As you may know, the very best ideas come in small chunks and then grow with time and attention.

So it was with this website and the idea that happiness could be practiced. It all started with a little poem I wrote to a coworker with a negative attitude: Be kind, laugh lots, think good thoughts. She was a tiger at work so I never had the nerve to give her the note!

The next step didn't develop until months later, while I was doing a visualization process with my most recent lottery ticket. I've been a semi-regular lottery player since 1986 and have found that simply buying a lottery ticket and then planning what to do with my winnings always leads me to a greater understanding of what I really want ... at least the essence of what I really want. Although I don't know how one can get the essence of a yacht with no money unless one could be satisfied with a rubber raft. More on that later.

Anyway, there I was with my ticket in February 2005, happily thinking about how fun it would be to give away $100 bills, folded neatly, just slip them into the pockets of fellow shoppers or leave them laying around in odd places. The idea thrilled and excited me, to say the least! Then I had a thought: One dollar is money! Why did I think it had to be a big bill to be fun and exciting to give away?

After that, the ideas came quickly and I flew into action. I remembered that little poem and dug it up and then added to it. At that time, I called it the Keys to Happiness:

• Be Kind
• Laugh Lots
• Think Good Thoughts
• And always be grateful for the little blessings life sends your way!

I worked it up in multiples on my word processor, cut them out, glued them to small squares of construction paper and then clipped neatly folded one dollar bills to each. I was now ready to give money away by leaving them at random locations, anonymously. What fun!

At the time, I was working as a waitress at a diner and the pay was not much. Still, I figured that I could afford to give away ten of my little cards each week. I had them in my wallet all ready to go when the urge struck. I left them in ladies rooms, by cash registers and on grocery store shelves by the cereal. The fun part was walking away and then imagining who would find it and what they might think. I got very brave once and clipped a five dollar bill to one poem and left it laying at a video store. The energy burst I got from that one lasted all day!

At some point I realized that I was sharing a message that was important to me and the money I clipped to my message was like a battery pack giving it power and life. Suddenly the message became more important than the money and I began working on a way to enhance the message, to spread it as far as possible. While awfully fun, the dollar bills shared randomly and locally were no longer exciting, I wanted more and bigger. I began to dare to think that my little message, in it's simplicity, could make a difference in people's lives.

Practice Happiness popped into my mind on a long drive and I loved it instantly. I checked GoDaddy.com and found that it was available, then I checked Amazon.com and found that no one had used it for the title of anything, although there were many books about happiness, how to find it and all sorts of science about it's effects on body, mind and spirit. So I bought the domain name and my friend, Kristine Woodall, built the first Practice Happiness website in April 2005.

In June 2005, I packed my things into storage in Boise, Idaho and set off on an extended road trip with no particular destination. I called it my Happiness Tour, since I planned to hand out the newest, upgraded poems on cards that included a magnet for the refrigerator. This version also had my name and the website address and included no attached money, since my traveling budget didn't allow for the hundreds of dollar bills that would have taken. I also planned to be open to ideas and opportunities for my own support as they came along.

I didn't have to travel long before a wonderful job was offered to me by Quantum-Touch, in their customer service department in San Luis Obispo, California. In just a few months my income had tripled and I was happily working everyday in a beautiful office with wonderful, caring people doing International customer service for a world class company. In December 2005, I went to the bank and got 20 crisp five dollar bills, clipped them to my poem cards and gave them all away, just handed them out wherever I wanted. It was bliss!

It's now Oct 2008 and my life and finacial situation has been totally altered by that simple poem and my little idea. This is the newest Practice Happiness website and the vision and mission has grown. I've heard many famous mentors say that to get what you most want, go find someone to give it to. I wanted happiness and I thought it would take money. It's a pretty sure bet that most people think they would be happier with more money. Who knew that writing down my happiness methods and giving them away with a little bit of money would open the door for all my own dreams to come true and my true life purpose to unfold in a few short years?

If you e-mail me your address, I'll be happy to send you the latest handmade version of the happiness poem, refrigerator ready. If you'd like, I'll even send a few so you can share. Such a deal!

May one of your little ideas lead you to your dream-come-true!

Randy Sandknop©2008