Are you happy?

That could be an easy question or a difficult one depending on how you take it. Are you happy right now—this very minute? Or are you happy, overall, with life?

Abraham Lincoln said, “Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.”

Recently, we spent a week at the beach (or the shore, as some folks call it). The sun was out, the breeze was gentle, the water was warm and we had nothing we HAD to do. We were happy.

Now, we’re back at work making preparations for our next auction on Aug. 14.

It’s funny how we were happy to be at the beach, but we can also find happiness in returning to a familiar routine.

So, what’s with all this talk about happiness?

August is Happiness Happens Month!

Apparently back in 1999, some people who called themselves the Secret Society of Happy People decided to dedicate a day to the pursuit of happiness, hoping that happy feelings would linger in them every day (or at least every day for a month) and expanded their day into a month-long celebration. (I wonder if these were also the same folks who fretted over the then-upcoming Y2K crisis.)

I try to be happy most of the time. In fact, I have a sign over my bathroom counter that reminds me, “Happiness is a journey, not a destination.”

I guess it’s one step at a time!

So, what’s this have to do with auction, you wonder?

As I returned home after vacation, I looked around at suddenly noticed many things I really hadn’t paid much attention to prior to leaving for a week.

I noticed the pile of things I had sorted through a month ago that need to be sold or donated.

I noticed my summer décor was soon going to be ready to morph into autumn décor.

And as I prepared for a potluck picnic, I realized that I don’t have as many casserole dishes as I used to have.

Nothing I noticed makes me particularly unhappy, but it does prompt a call to action: Get rid of some stuff and procure other stuff! I’ve made it a priority to sell or donate the pile. I’ve started looking for fall décor. And I need to pick up a few extra casserole dishes.

Lucky for me, I work at an auction! It’s a one-stop shop for all those things on my new To-Do list.

At Gateway Gallery Auction, I can consign my unwanted items so that someone else may find happiness with them. I can find new-to-me décor to make me smile. And I can pick up those few extra casserole dishes for half of what I’d pay for them in a retail store—and that would make me happy!

Come to auction. You can not only bid on a little bit of happiness, you can buy it! Plus, you can meet new friends and have fun with the live auction experience. If that’s not a few moments of happiness, I don’t know what is! #behappy #HappinessHappensMonth

Andrea Rose is Communications Coordinator for Gateway Gallery Auction, a retired journalist and a freelance writer.