I received an e-mail yesterday from one of our demonstrators who attended Leadership, and she mentioned that several people at leadership had mentioned to her how upbeat and lighthearted I seemed. “It set a wonderful tone for the week,” she mentioned.

I actually heard the same observations from a dozen or so different people, both demonstrators and home office people. One person wondered if it was because Sara had moved back to Utah and Shanna had come home from her mission. That might make sense, except that Shalae moved away about the same time—across the country!—so while I gained two daughters nearby, I lost one too. So I don’t think that’s it.

While I’m pretty optimistic (I often describe myself as a “Pollyanna”), the past couple of years haven’t been easy ones for any of us. And although I’ve always felt good about our future, even as the economy slumped and we all settled in to make difficult adjustments, I’ve also known that many people were—and are—suffering, some very dramatically. I think that somehow that must have come through.

These challenges have inspired some pretty drastic decisions for many of us. I know at Stampin’ Up! we’ve spent a huge amount of time narrowing our focus and determining where we are going to concentrate our resources. Many of you have done the same thing.

So as I thought about it, I realized that there’s not really any secret or hidden reason I’m happier. It’s pretty straightforward—I’m simply feeling really good about where we are right now, as a company and as individuals. As we concentrate on the basics and focus on what we do best, I feel like 2010 is our year! And I think a lot of other people share those feelings as well!

So that’s why I’m happy! Because I do love what I do, and I love who I’m doing it with—and I love that we’re in a good place as we move into the future.