“You are experiencing what happens when you are happy. Happy from the inside. Happy people put out more positive energy. You aren’t aware that you are doing it. You can’t see it, but other people feel it. When they feel it, they respond to you in a positive way. They smile at you.”

Excerpted from the book, The Napkin, the Melon & the Monkey.

Once Olivia resigned from what she jokingly referred to as her self-appointed position as the “General Manager of the Universe,” she noticed that her life got a whole lot easier. Her ability to be more patient transformed her relationships both at home and at work. But what she hadn’t realized was that the happiness she was feeling on the inside was visible to others. She was mystified when strangers she encountered on the street smiled at her for “no reason.” Isabel, her wise friend, explained that all that smiling was a side effect of her new, happier feeling.

A recent study by researchers at Harvard proved that happiness is contagious. The study of 4700 people over 20 years concluded that people who are happy or become happy impact the happiness of those around them for up to a year. “You would think that your emotional state would depend on your own choices and actions and experience,” said researcher, Nicholas Christakis, a Harvard medical sociologist. “But it also depends on the choices and actions and experiences of other people, including people to whom you are not directly connected. Happiness is contagious.”

Make a difference. Be happy.