In the book, Happiness is Sharing, J. Harvey Howells wrote an article about a wonderful bedtime ritual he observes with his children.  Look at his words: 

 “You forgot something,” said my six-year-old urgently, as I bent to kiss him good night.  He grabbed my hand.  “You forgot to ask me what was the happiest thing that happened today.”  “ I’m sorry.  So I did.” I sat down on the edge of the bed-at last came the whisper.

“Catching that sand eel.  “A contented sigh.  “My first fish: He snuggled into the pillow.  “Night, Dad”  When it started I do not know.  Nor do I know how, but this prayer like ritual has been my own  private blessing since beyond memory.  There is a moment of complete loveliness that comes to everyone everyday.  When the last good night has been murmured and the head is on the pillow, the soul is utterly alone with its thoughts.  It is then that I ask myself, ‘what was the happiest thing that happened today? 

The waking hours may have been filled with stress and even distress; I have been in a highly  competitive business all my life, but no matter what kind of day it has been, there is always a ‘happiest’ thing.  Funny enough, it’s rarely a big thing.  Mostly it’s fleeting loveliness.  Waking to the honk of Canada geese on a crisp fall morning.  An unexpected letter from a friend who doesn’t write often.  A cool swim on a broiling day.  Camellias in the snow.  My wife’s face when she makes me laugh.  There’s always  something, and as a result I have never had a sleeping pill in my life.  I doubt if my son will ever need one either-if he, too remembers that happiness is not a goal dependent on some future event.  It is with us every day if we make (cultivate the habit) the conscious effort to recognize it.  “Jesus knew the power in good habits.  Jesus teaches us to cultivate humility, compassion, mercy, righteousness and peace and Jesus  teaches that these lead to true happiness.  

In Christ,