A year ago, I marked the one-year anniversary of keeping a daily accomplishments log. I'm still using this system, another year later. Every entry links back to one of my priorities, such as family, learning or food. In fact, the most valuable entries capture notes about recipes I've tried: what I liked, disliked or would do differently.

My favourite find in reviewing past posts was this statement from 64 Positive Things to Say to Kids: "You are learning. You are growing. Growing is hard work." Growing is hard work.

I believe in karma. When we put kindness out into the world, it comes back to us—sometimes from the same person, oftentimes from someone else.... Giving has one other benefit: it helps me to stay focused on the beauty of today rather than the worries of tomorrow. Doing something kind for someone else heals me.

Perhaps like many girls, I used to think I wasn't pretty enough, thin enough, interesting enough. Enough for what, you ask? Why enough to be loved, of course. Through reading, writing and repeating every day "I am loving and lovable; my life is filled with love," I started to change my view.

"You are learning. You are growing. Growing is hard work."

— 64 Positive Things to Say to Kids

As a sporty, competitive kid, I vividly remember the Canada Fitness Award Program, with its bronze, silver, gold and excellence badges. The Government of Canada launched this national program in 1970 to encourage youth from ages 7 to 18 to achieve higher levels of fitness. The original test consisted of six events: the 50-yard run, the 300-yard run, flexed arm hangs, the shuttle run, speed sit-ups, and the standing long jump. I earned as many badges as I could, always striving for the excellence level.

"The person who offends writes as if it was written on sand, and the person who is offended reads it as if it were written on marble."

— Italian proverb

"If you want others to like you, if you want to develop real friendships, if you want to help others at the same time as you help yourself, keep this principle in mind...Become genuinely interested in other people."

— Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People

Stories are inspirational not because they deal with a positive topic, but because they deal with a challenging topic in a positive way. I would never have thought that I could be happy, that I could have fun and that I could be grateful while dealing with cancer—two cancers, in fact. Yet here we are.

Money can enable a rich life, but having a lot of money is not the only way to be rich. You can be rich in time, friends, interests and love, and you can place an equal or greater value on any of these factors when examining the richness of your life.

"The majority of us lead quiet, unheralded lives as we pass through this world. There will most likely be no ticker-tape parades for us, no monuments created in our honor. But that does not lessen our possible impact, for there are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our unique talents. Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give. Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear[,] an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have a potential to turn a life around. It’s overwhelming to consider the continuous opportunities there are to make our love felt."

— Leo Buscaglia

A bad morning doesn't have to be a bad day. An annoying moment in traffic doesn't have to be a horrible drive. A late arrival for a meeting with your boss doesn't have to be an unforgivable mistake. An unproductive morning doesn't have to be an unproductive day.... Don't throw away a day because a part of it wasn't what you had hoped it would be.

Not all the systems I create stand the test of time, but this one has. Writing down what I accomplish is self-affirming, reminding me of what I have done when it would be easy to focus on what I haven't finished.