Dearest Journeyer,

I have a confession to make: I haven’t been honoring my happy.

Quite the contrary, I’ve been focused on those things I don’t have and those that make me feel icky.

Whereas I normally look forward to this weekly column, I dreaded this week’s post. I considered skipping it when I scrolled through my photos and found zero images of my joy.

There were countless pics of inspiration that I want to share with you on social media feeds, but not one image of something that made me feel good.

In the end, however, I had to be honest with myself and with all of you. Sometimes, no matter how diligent we are, we backslide.

[Tweet theme=”basic-white”]Sometimes we just need to acknowledge that Life can be HARD and UNPLEASANT and…well…NOT JOLLY.[/Tweet]

Hiding that from one another does no one any good.

But we do, either because we are afraid what others will think or because we just can’t put our finger on what is making us miserable.

Maybe it’s that we’re struggling to connect in our relationships, or our job is monotonous, or our kids are getting into mischief or leaving home, or our hormones are all out of whack.

God forbid if all of these mishaps are happening all at once!

As I sat staring at the blinking cursor on my screen, my empty calendar and camera roll, I could feel my frustration rising.

So I employed a little strategy I’ve recently learned. I closed my eyes, focused on my breath, and asked the universe to bring ease to my mind, body, and soul.

I then scrolled through my week in my mind.

Something I didn’t mention in the previous post was how my family gathered together to decorate our tree. It’s the first time in a few years that we’ve all been together for this tradition that began when my children were toddlers.

Beauty’s beau joined us this year, spreading the many ornament’s stories outside of our little clan.

That holiday ritual filled me with joy.

As did the many hot, Peppermint mocha lattes I sipped on during lunch or after work.

I don’t drink coffee, but this beverage manages to warm my insides on cold or emotionally dreary days, and so I indulged.

Sometimes Happy comes in a cup, Journeyer.

Two other events I almost forgot about, because I didn’t write them in my calendar, were dinner one night with a friend to celebrate her birthday and dinner another night with Beauty to work on Us.

Two wonderful events that somehow got lost in the week’s icky mood and feel.

I took a half sick day on Friday and slept from nine in the morning until two-thirty in the afternoon. I likely would have slept into darkness if it hadn’t been for Big Guy coming home between classes and clattering around.

I did a bunch of cleaning on Saturday morning, ate half a box of salted caramel chocolate pieces, and went with Warren to a local Christmas festival.

And I sat in a stupor playing Candy Crush for hours upon hours.

Though I wish I had more cheer to share, I am equally satisfied to share with you the truth that sometimes life simply sucks.

I am also happy to report the first-hand knowledge that we somehow get through or over it, Journeyer.

Really, all we have to do is change the way we look at things…maybe eat a box of chocolates…go through a box of tissues…lean on our support system…or write it out of our system…

Or all of the above.

Then we start over with fresh eyes and a focus on those things that make us smile, warm our heart, or bring a bit of peace to our soul.

That’s my goal for this week, Journeyer, to keep my eyes open for life’s many little miracles that appear at every turn and the magic that is all around us.

And to remember that just because we have a few unhappy days, doesn’t mean that we ARE unhappy or that we will BE unhappy FOREVER.

If we choose to recognize that we can have miserable moments, to let them go and get back to paying homage to the many little events that make us feel good, then our overall attitude and essence is one of joy.

What about you, Journeyer? Would love to have you share something Happy or Not-So-Happy about your week. Tell us how you traversed last week in a comment below.

Until next time, yours in hope, healing, and happiness,