I’m a seventeen-year-old, and being a teenager – at any time – but especially in 2025, is no easy feat. This is a tumultuous time in our lives; between growing up during a pandemic, to navigating social media, managing hormones, friendship changes, and increasing responsibility, t! I’m sure that you having either been a teen, or knowing a teen, can relate.
I was thirteen when COVID hit. During this time of great upheaval and change, I noticed myself struggling to feel happy; and I noticed my peers also struggling. As such, I decided to find ways to increase my own mood. Together with my family I started focusing on the small, good things that happen everyday. Going for a walk. Cuddling my dog. Eating my mom’s burgers! All of these small, but good moments, occur daily and yet we often don’t recognize them. At that time, I noticed that if I could just focus on the small and good moments in daily life, I could increase my happiness! Noticing the continued struggle for happiness amongst my peers (and seeing the relevant statistics in the news), my sister, Anastasia (eleven at the time – now fifteen), decided to share the habit and practice of focusing on the small and good occurrences in everyday life. Welcome, Small Bits of Happiness.
Anastasia and I wondered where to start, the goal being to reach the most teenagers… Well, the place that immediately came to mind during the pandemic was: social media. We started posting quotes, funny videos, and fun facts, and grew our following. Soon, Anastasia and I launched our website, smallbitsofhappiness.com, designing products (activities, jewelry, clothing, and more), to encourage connection, inspire one to focus on the small and good moments in daily life, and help build the habit of looking for happiness daily. To learn more about happiness, we wanted to learn what brings happiness to iconic individuals, those who teens and adults look up to, including Olympians, New York Times Bestselling Authors, Oscar-Winners, and more. Hence, we launched our podcast “Hack Your Happiness”.
What I’ve learned through Small Bits of Happiness boils down to something very simple: there is good all around us. There is happiness in the moments that occur daily. All we have to do is notice them.
