Paula Vail on unlocking the joy that’s been inside you all along — and why a happy heart is the truest measure of success.
What if the happiness you’ve been searching for has never actually been missing? What if it’s been right there — quietly waiting — beneath the stress, the busyness, the weight of everything life keeps piling on?
That’s the heart of the message Paula Vail has spent her life delivering. And now, in her bestselling book Why Am I So Happy? The Sign of True Success is a Happy Heart, she’s put it all on the page in a way that’s both deeply personal and practically transformative.
“My vision is a world where we no longer have to ask ‘Why am I so happy?’ — because happiness is simply the natural state of being for all.”
Paula Vail knows what it means to navigate life’s storms from the inside out. As the founder of Wellness Inspired — a practice that has held “Best of Tacoma” status in the Wellness category for eight consecutive years and earned Hall of Fame recognition — she has walked alongside countless people through hardship, self-doubt, and the long search for something that finally feels like peace.
The book that started with a dog named Shotzy
Not every transformational journey begins with a dramatic moment. Paula’s deepened through caring for her aging canine companion, Shotzy. As she sought healing for her beloved dog, she discovered the restorative power of Usui Reiki — and something clicked open inside her that hasn’t closed since.
That experience led Paula to become a certified Reiki Master and Teacher, and ultimately to a life dedicated to helping others access the same healing energy she found. It’s a reminder that transformation rarely announces itself — sometimes it arrives quietly, through love.
Why Am I So Happy? carries that same gentle, grounded energy. It’s not a book that shouts at you to be positive. It’s a book that sits with you, shares real stories, and then hands you real tools.
WHAT YOU’LL FIND INSIDE
- Paula’s own life challenges and the mindset shifts that changed everything
- Research-backed tools for cultivating lasting joy and gratitude
- Practical tactics to navigate stress, negativity, and overwhelm
- A fresh framework for what true success actually looks and feels like
- Guidance on choosing happiness as a practice — not a destination
Happiness as a choice — not a circumstance
One of the most powerful threads running through Paula’s work is this: happiness is not something that happens to you. It’s something you actively choose — often before you feel it, often in spite of circumstances that make it hard.
Paula says she believed this early in her own life, even in seasons when she was actively longing for joy — looking outward for it, waiting for someone or something to deliver it. The shift came when she turned that search inward. And that shift is exactly what she guides readers through, page by page.
Her background is a rich weave of experience: over two decades running a restaurant, a transition into wellness and personal empowerment, recognition as one of America’s Leading Ladies alongside luminaries like Oprah Winfrey and Melinda Gates, and multiple honors from the International Association of Top Professionals — including the Empowered Woman of the Year Award. She is also a TV and radio host, inspirational speaker, and actress.
All of it informs the warmth and wisdom she brings to the page. Paula Vail is not writing from a place of having had it easy. She’s writing from a place of having done the work.
“Life is like a river, always flowing. For many of us, we are consumed in the waves of the storm. This book helps readers redirect their minds and emotions — and find joy even in the most difficult moments.”
A guide for right now
We are living in a time of extraordinary stress. Workloads are heavier, uncertainty is louder, and the pull toward negativity can feel relentless. Paula’s book meets that reality head-on — not with toxic positivity or quick fixes, but with a genuine, practical roadmap for redirecting your inner world.
Whether you’re in the middle of something hard or simply ready for more joy, Why Am I So Happy? offers the kind of companionship that good books do best: it makes you feel less alone, more capable, and genuinely hopeful about what’s possible
