Yesterday my fifteen-year-old looked me in the eye and said, in the aggrieved tone of teenagers everywhere, “Mom, can you please stop talking about the economy?”

That brought me up short. I am heretofore determined to quit brooding–and mindlessly talking--about things I can’t control. Focusing on what’s going right is healthier, more empowering, more helpful, and it just feels better. (Plus, as my father used to say to his whiney kids, “Plenty of people in the world have bigger problems than you do!”)   Gretchen Rubin, who writes about the study of happiness on her blog The Happiness Project, is more politic: she says the trick is to “Act as you’d like to feel and your feelings will change. Like magic.”  

I’m feeling better already, so it’s time to spread the wealth.   I’ve decided to throw a “Cheer Up Already” party.  No fancy prepared food or hothouse flowers--we'll do a 1970s potluck  (without that awful lentil salad). Unemployed folks don’t have to bring a thing. Anyone who wants to talk about their 401K or whether the stimulus package is going to work will be banished to a small dark room  with the TV set on CNBC until they get over themselves.  We’ll put on our smiley-face T-shirts and turn up the happy music: salsa, swing,  the Beach Boys, a little gospel. And count our blessings.

Want some inspiration while you’re planning your own cheer-up-already activities? Subscribe to our Daily Upside feed. Or just go see the Pink Panther.

And please tell me what you're doing to stay cheerful!