My mom and I have regular phone calls every week, but recently, I’ve been having tiny heart attacks whenever I see her picture pop up on my screen. I don’t have these mini heart attacks because I’m trying to hide something from her, but because with each phone call from home comes some unfortunately sad news. Sad news that always seems to find a way to break a piece of my heart.

With all the unfortunate news I’ve received this semester, I’ve found it harder than usual to have a fulfilled heart. I can’t comprehend why bad things happens to good people, and it makes me curious to think if a truly happy heart can even exist?

It took me weeks of journaling, conversations with trusted adults and self-contemplation to finally figure out what a happy heart looks like. I realized that although my life had been filled sadness, the way I chose to react to that sadness is what truly matters.

Life is this on-going, awesome roller coaster. It consists of ups, downs, curves, obstacles and the occasional standstill, and it’s a thrilling ride that we are all lucky enough to experience. But, sometimes life just hits ya REAL hard. So hard, that you only feel the standstill happening and forget about all the exciting parts about to happen.

Standstills happen, but it’s how you roll with those standstills that determines your happiness. Rather than dwelling in sadness, chose positivity. It takes baby steps to achieve any goal so start out small. Write down something good that happened in your day. It can be anything—the sun shined, you heard a baby giggle (one of my three instant joys), you FaceTimed your dog… ANYTHING that makes you happy, write it down! Another successful piece of advice: surround yourself with good people. Good people make for great friends and great memories.

Delight in the little things, laugh until your belly hurts and eat all the ice cream your heart desires. Happy hearts make for happy influences.