"A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes" ~H Downs

Are happy people just lucky, or oblivious to negative situations? Or is it that they are able to find the gems in every situation?

I have lots of reasons to be happy right now – most of all the birth of my daughter Catherine, two weeks ago. She's great, but she is a baby. Which on the flipside also means plenty of reasons to be stressed and despairing – the lack of sleep for one!

I really believe that you can choose how you experience things by the attitude you take and what you focus on, and this worked for me even in childbirth.

Even though it was of course intensely painful, and some things didn't quite go to plan, I'm sure that focusing on the upside of everything – including contractions – was conducive to the really positive childbirth experience I had this time. In fact, I was feeling so good afterwards I could have left hospital practically straight away, and I'd even go as far as saying I could have almost done it all over again – almost!

Another reason for me to be happy is that tomorrow is one of my favourite foodie days – Pancake Day (or Shrove Tuesday), marking the beginning of Lent. While some of my friends are giving up chocolate, crisps, biscuits and even tea, I've been scratching my head.

You see I have to be quite careful in my choice, as the last time I did this properly I ended up giving up alcohol for good.

I could give up caffeine – as I am only down to one caffeinated cup of tea a day anyway (the lengths a breastfeeding mum will go to, to aid a baby's sleep). Or, as a friend suggested, I could give up sleep, seeing as I'm halfway there already!

The way I see it, it's an opportunity to kick a bad habit… or perhaps I could flip it over and develop a good habit instead.

So I wonder if I can nurture a positive attitude for Lent – instead of complaining, ranting or being generally negative (and I'm normally all for a good healthy rant) for the next 40 days, try to flip it over and look for the positives instead? Or will I be positively flipping mad by Easter?

I'll be posting a positive status update everyday on Facebook and Twitter – follow me to see how I do!