So...I am finally speaking at the QLA conference in Florida in September of this year...my subject? Happiness.

If you know me at all, you know that it is the basis of everything that I believe in. Happiness. You cannot buy it or sell it, trade it or offer it.

You can cultivate it, develop it, conserve it and share it but no matter what happens, it belongs to you and only you.

Now, having had major diseases, major surgeries and years of trial, error, treatments, revisions and near failures I must admit that it can be a challenge to keep it up but I truly believe that happiness, optimism (its Siamese twin sister) and hope (their older sister) all play a major role in our healing process and how well we adapt to our new 'normal'.

Without it, we crawl through the process of diagnosis, treatments, surgeries and hell in a tearful, fearful lonely nightmare...with it..Well, the pain may not disappear and the fear may never go away but life and its challenges seem that much less daunting.

As a little kid, in the hospital, I used to sing to myself and talk to my 'secret friend', as an ado I would write stories and plays and lyrics to my own songs.

Now, I write to you and somehow feel the joy inside of me (the baby brother of all of the others) and know that happiness can be contagious...along with laughter, love, friendship and kindness.

I hope that during the conference I can transmit some of the joy and happiness that I feel and can help some of you find it within yourselves.

Sharon