“Happiness is a journey, not a destination; happiness is to be found along the way not at the end of the road, for then the journey is over and it’s too late. The time for happiness is today not tomorrow.” ~Paul H. Dunn
Happy Sunday-Monday, Journeyer!
You know how random life can be sometimes?
How you’re plugging along all nice and happy and then, WHAM! , you are blindsided by some misfortune or mishap?
OR…
How you’re plugging along all bent out of shape, be it from anger, betrayal, depression, fear, sadness, or sickness, and then out of nowhere, WHAM!, something like a flower or a baby’s giggle makes you smile, or a hot mug of tea makes you feel better, a friend shows up with a card and a box of tissues, or your spouse spontaneously picks up the slack?
Yes. That. ALL of that.
If you’ve been following along, you know that I have been down and out with a bug that progressed from the lower extremities up to a nasty respiratory cough and a sinus infection.
When I finally managed to drag myself back to work last week, it was all I could do to manage the MUST DO’s as I felt like I was moving through sludge every minute of almost every day.
One morning I was running exceptionally late because I hit the snooze two times. Those of you who have been following for a while understand that this means I had less than fifteen minutes to do a little hygiene, put on clothes, take my vitamins, grab a breakfast bar and a beverage, and be on the road.
I usually have only thirty minutes to shower and do all that. Though they’re brief, I worship those precious minutes that water is beating down on me.
Needless to say I’m feeling a little less that prim and fresh.
I’m driving down the road with a cough drop in my mouth, a raw nose, and a pile of tissues collecting on the seat beside me, and all I can think about is how I’d rather not be going in to work for a a whole host of reasons and about how much I despise getting up in the ungodly hour of darkness.
Needless to say I wasn’t in an emotionally good place; tension that always adds to our physical discomfort, what with all that negative energy swirling around outside and inside of us.
Feeling perfectly content in this state of discontent, I somehow managed to notice the sliver of pink and amber light of the emerging day.
In a flash, I remembered the wise words of a woman I partnered with in a recent class, “I get to park my car on the third level deck because I have a parking garage to use and I get to use that parking garage because I have a car.”
The course activity had been to share with one another how we see ourselves living the life of our dreams. She’d shared with me that her current job was not her ideal job but that it suited her life situation on many levels.
She told me how someone had shared this wisdom with her and how she’d first applied it to a conversation with her son: “You don’t have to clean your room; you get to clean your bedroom because you have a bedroom.”
Hearing those words come out of her mouth made her begin to contemplate the many things she gets to do.
[Tweet theme=”basic-white”]In the midst of an utterly deplorable and lacking week, I found happiness in the things I “get” to do.[/Tweet]
I get to hear the birds singing on an unusually warm winter morn because I am the early bird who can catch their new day musical notes.
I get to feel fresh snow, rain, sunshine, bitter winds and warm breezes on my face because I have a dog who needs to go potty; a beautiful soul who greets me at the door with sleepy eyes and a wagging tail, every time I come home.
I get to see brilliant sunrises because I have to be up and at ’em before the big ball of light rises.
I get to see the shimmery sparkles dancing across the freshly formed snow because I have to be awake during that first morning kiss between sky and land.
I get to see a doe and her fawn take their first morning drink from the stream because I have to drive to work at the crack of dawn.
In a an isolated self-employment field, I get to socialize with and learn from all personality types because I have an outside job.
I get to practice my craft and finish this post at midday on a Monday because I am home by nine am following my early morning shift.
I get to feel happy because I am breathing, talking, walking, working.
I get to feel happy because I am living, Journeyer.
Journeyer, you get to feel happy at any time and at any place.
I know you do and you know you do, too. No matter how bad things are or might seem, there is always something that takes us away from those harsh things, even if but for a minute.
When we take time to notice and honor these fleeting moments that make us smile, warm our heart, or bring us some sense of peace, then we ARE happy.
Share with us a story how you “got” happy?
Until we meet again, yours in hope, healing, and happiness,
