That answer eluded me for most of my life. I was born depressed (if you see pictures of me as a child, you’d think I was carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders). Later in life, despite having achieved a considerable amount of success, I still felt that same unhappiness.

I was so determined to figure out the keys to happiness that I sought out 100 of the happiest people in the world, and I interviewed them for my book, Happy For No Reason.

It may not surprise you that this list included people who endured and overcame incredible hardships.

Ultimately, we’re all here on “earth school” to learn – and it’s often the biggest challenges that become our greatest teachers. When challenging, disappointing or hurtful events happen in our lives, it can be hard to believe that happiness is an option. We can be tempted to retreat from the world and build a hard shell around ourselves to protect from further hurt. We can become distrustful of life, convinced that we’re going to continue along a sad and disappointing path.

Moira Dadd made that choice

I’ve had the pleasure of mentoring Moira through my Your Year of Miracles program and by training her to teach my Happy For No Reason work. Her effervescent personality and deeply connected spirit are joys to behold.  I am inspired by the deep work she’s done to cultivate her well of happiness within. In reading her powerful story, I was deeply touched by Moira’s resilience and courage in the face of the difficult circumstances she endured as a child. Rather than shutting down, Moira bravely moved forward on a healing journey defined by forgiveness and spiritual connection—two of the key ingredients to living a happy and fulfilling life.

As I discovered in my research on happiness, forgiveness is an essential practice for our health and well-being and for letting greater love into our hearts.  Forgiveness liberates us from our past, allows us to let go of resentment and pain, and carves the way to a more joyful life.