Maria T. Bernardo Brady
Curator of I Chose Happy!
Owner of Marakae Marketing, Inc.
Happy Matters
As a proud Mom, playful GiGi (Glamorous Grandmother), successful entrepreneur and blessed cancer survivor, I have embraced the value and enduring need for positivity. Successfully running a marketing business for over 25 years requires a lot of faith, resilience and perseverance. Those three attributes, combined with the grace of God, help me achieve remission for a rare blood cancer called Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia. Diagnosed in 2013 and given a prognosis of 5-7 year life expectancy, I have been blessed to surpass those odds.
I’ve learned that to stay healthy physically and emotionally in work life or personally, there is no time to dwell on what isn’t right, to future predict some negative occurrence or constantly worry about current events that are out of our control. Playing the “what if” scenario with negative thoughts, robs us of today’s joy and causes our bodies to physically experience unnecessary stress that compromises our immune system. Stay present. Think positive thoughts.
So personally, I Chose Happy! I focus on my many blessings, even the simple things, like my iced mocha coffee in the morning. I focus on today while empowering myself with my vision of tomorrow. Uncertainty, negativity and fear have no room to thrive when I feel Happy!
Happy matters! And, to me, Happy extends beyond the traditional definition of “a feeling of joy, pleasure, or good fortune…”* While those descriptions are all very important, I have created an acronym for HAPPY.
Healthy
Healthy, to me, means to encompasses our mind, body and spirit. Finding time to nurture each of these dimensions is so important to optimize time on Earth and enliven our souls.
Active
Active, for me, means to be in motion with your physical body through exercise or simple movements, to stimulate your mind with new experiences, listening to podcasts, reading books and embracing new experiences. Active also means uplifting others with small gestures of thoughtfulness, volunteering, or helping in a big way like creating a charity!
Playful
Playful, for me, means laughing every day, making time to feel like a kid again, to be creative, to find joy in everyday triumphs. I highly recommend spontaneity to delight in the sense of freedom!
Prayerful
Prayerful, for me, means talking to the Heavens several times a day to express gratitude or to offer a prayer for someone in need. Also means to make the time to mediate, to truly connect with the vibration of positive healing frequencies that surround each of us.
You
You, well that’s pretty much the literal meaning Y O U! “You” are the people selected by you to be part of your world, part of your tribe. Choose YOU wisely. Surround yourself with positive energy so you attract positive energy.
*vocabulary.com
Our Passion
To help people realize that happiness is a state of being, irrelevant of circumstances and history. To empower people to realize a pure light radiates within them and by choosing happiness, their glow reverberates. To cause a change in perception, thought and attitude resulting in a beautiful life of happiness and abundance. To support charities through our talents and fundraising, multiplying Happy!
Our Community
Anyone can embrace the beliefs of I Chose Happy! However, our loyal followers are people who are realizing a conscious effort to surround themselves with gratitude, positivity and want to help others. People who sense it’s truly time for a change, feel anxiety or are experiencing a life-changing situation such as an illness, a physical or emotional loss of a loved one or a challenging financial situation may join our HAPPY! movement.