Happiness is Personal
As I sit to write this, I have been motivated by some things that have happened recently in my life.
I try not to air "dirty laundry" on social media, and I won't air it here in my blog either. But sometimes, things happen in life that change your way of thinking and reacting to life. I have let "things" worry me, stress me, and change me for way too long now. So I had a long chat with myself, and "we" (me, myself, and I) decided to rethink our approach to life. I have so many reasons to be happy. I am blessed with good health, parents who are still vibrant and mostly healthy at the age of 89, two wonderful sons, six incredible grandchildren, and a husband who cooks for me, and makes my coffee every morning. But my life is not perfect. Far from it. There are problems. And as I said earlier, I will not air them here. But like anyone else, there are problems. We all have them.
So in rethinking my approach to life, I have decided to look deep within, and find out what makes Linda happy. Selfish? Or self preservation? Your choice. Read on.
Happiness is deeply personal. No one can "make" you happy. Happiness is inside of you, and only you decide what it is that makes you happy.
So, what makes Linda happy? Laughing and hanging out with friends. Being with my Punkins. Being active. Working out, running, kayaking, doing yoga. A clean, organized house. Browsing through stores filled with pretty, bright home items, especially repurposed items! Attending church, singing loudly, and enjoying the peace that I feel after services. I could keep going, but I won't bore you with more. Bottom line, I know what I like, and I need to do more of it.
My theory, I must admit, is that if I am happy, I have a better chance of making those around me happy. If I feel that I am being "pulled under" into someone else's misery, it is much easier to avoid that "pull" if my mood is happier. I have several people close to me who suffer from depression, as is quite common these days, and I can't always feel like I'm drowning in that undertow. I need to be able to swim above it, and possibly help them come up for air once in a while also. So I can't feel that this is selfish. It's more self preservation, with a little "helping others" thrown in. If I could take that depression away, I would. But I can't. It's an illness. Yes, there's medication, but it doesn't always do the whole job. I've seen what it does to families, marriages, careers. It's an ugly illness. It's not a weakness. We can't magically make those with this illness happy. We can't expect them to want to do the things that make us happy. So the best we can do is be happy ourselves, and maybe share a little of that good mood. Maybe smile a little more. Laugh a little louder. Love a little more. Be a rainbow in a cloudy sky. So, selfish? I think not.
I try not to air "dirty laundry" on social media, and I won't air it here in my blog either. But sometimes, things happen in life that change your way of thinking and reacting to life. I have let "things" worry me, stress me, and change me for way too long now. So I had a long chat with myself, and "we" (me, myself, and I) decided to rethink our approach to life. I have so many reasons to be happy. I am blessed with good health, parents who are still vibrant and mostly healthy at the age of 89, two wonderful sons, six incredible grandchildren, and a husband who cooks for me, and makes my coffee every morning. But my life is not perfect. Far from it. There are problems. And as I said earlier, I will not air them here. But like anyone else, there are problems. We all have them.
So in rethinking my approach to life, I have decided to look deep within, and find out what makes Linda happy. Selfish? Or self preservation? Your choice. Read on.
Happiness is deeply personal. No one can "make" you happy. Happiness is inside of you, and only you decide what it is that makes you happy.
So, what makes Linda happy? Laughing and hanging out with friends. Being with my Punkins. Being active. Working out, running, kayaking, doing yoga. A clean, organized house. Browsing through stores filled with pretty, bright home items, especially repurposed items! Attending church, singing loudly, and enjoying the peace that I feel after services. I could keep going, but I won't bore you with more. Bottom line, I know what I like, and I need to do more of it.
My theory, I must admit, is that if I am happy, I have a better chance of making those around me happy. If I feel that I am being "pulled under" into someone else's misery, it is much easier to avoid that "pull" if my mood is happier. I have several people close to me who suffer from depression, as is quite common these days, and I can't always feel like I'm drowning in that undertow. I need to be able to swim above it, and possibly help them come up for air once in a while also. So I can't feel that this is selfish. It's more self preservation, with a little "helping others" thrown in. If I could take that depression away, I would. But I can't. It's an illness. Yes, there's medication, but it doesn't always do the whole job. I've seen what it does to families, marriages, careers. It's an ugly illness. It's not a weakness. We can't magically make those with this illness happy. We can't expect them to want to do the things that make us happy. So the best we can do is be happy ourselves, and maybe share a little of that good mood. Maybe smile a little more. Laugh a little louder. Love a little more. Be a rainbow in a cloudy sky. So, selfish? I think not.
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