Happiness in difficult times

When I considered names for my blog, I felt that "blessed with happiness" best captured the way I feel.  The by-line under the title says, "God has given us the gift of happiness. Our task is to recognize it, nourish it, share it and thank Him for it."  I truly believe this.  To me God blessed us all as his children with the capacity to feel happiness and it is what he wants for us.  The trick is knowing happiness when we see it and being willing to invest in it and help it grow.  

In my mind, being happy doesn't mean being constantly brimming with joy or being a "Pollyanna" who doesn't recognize life's challenges.  I have no expectations that I will be ecstatically happy about everything that happens in my life, but I do have the desire to see the blessings in every situation and to use them to make things better for me and for those around me.  The path to happiness begins with acceptance of your circumstances, then looking for the hidden possibilities for happiness, leaning on those happy moments and thanking God for them.  I have found that this process makes anything easier to bear.

I'll give you an example.  Yesterday, I had surgery on my sinuses.  I am recovering, but there is pain involved and I am pretty tired.  Definitely not a pleasant experience, but there have been moments that increased my happiness even during this time.  My nurse, Lynne, was just as sweet and caring as she could be.  Before the surgery, she soothed my nerves and made me more comfortable.  As I was waking up from the anesthesia, she was right there holding my hand and talking softly to me.  Until the time I left, she took care of my needs.  She was definitely a blessing to me.  

My surgery has also given me a renewed appreciation for my husband.  He has taken such good care of me since the surgery: getting me food, helping me up, bringing me things I need, and just generally anticipating my every want.  I have also received good wishes and love from my parents, a phone call from my preacher, and flowers from my co-workers.  All of these moments have made my recovery so much easier and me so much happier.

Thank you, God, for bringing me safely through my surgery and for giving me these wonderful people to care for me.  Thank you for your gift of happiness and for helping me to find it!

Earth laughs in flowers

If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom.  ~Terri Guillemets 

Did you know that there are almost 300,000 known species of blooming plants on the Earth?  I see this as direct evidence of God's hand in creation because I don't understand how that many types could have come to exist randomly. (I suppose the over 1,000,000 types of insects would have made my point even more strongly, but insects don't make me nearly as happy as flowers!)

I love everything about flowers: the vast variety of colors, the interesting shapes, the softness of the petals.  Pansies, peonies, petunias...I love them all, but my absolute favorites are wildflowers, those little surprises that pop up all over in spring and summer.  They beautifully illustrate what Emmerson meant when he said, "Earth laughs in flowers."

My wonderful sister, Michelle, took these lovely pictures of wildflowers.  I hope you enjoy them!

What's luck got to do with it?

I don't believe in luck.  That doesn't mean that I won't say, "I'm keeping my fingers crossed" or make wishes (which fall into the same category as luck in my book) when I blow out birthday candles.  Those things are whimsical traditions, but I don't buy that they will change anything about my life.

So, what does believing in luck have to do with happiness?  To me, a lot.  Luck is transient and ethereal.  You can't count on luck.  People think they can influence luck with charms and rituals, but by definition it operates by chance.  Relying on luck for the good things in life must be extremely stressful.  And what if you have bad luck instead of good luck?  If one can come to you at any time, so could the other.  Hard to be happy with that kind of uncertainty.

A conversation I had with a co-worker recently is what got me thinking about luck.  The day before, I had slipped on a rock and strained a ligament in my foot.  I had it checked out and had to wear a small walking boot for a couple of days to give it some support.  No big deal.  When I told my co-worker, she shook her head and said with a pitying tone, "I can't believe what bad luck you have."  I was dumbfounded by her observation and asked her what she meant.  She proceeded to point out a couple of surgeries I had in the past few years: one on my foot to remove a neuroma and two on my hand to remove cysts from my knuckles.  I told her, "That's not luck, that's life."  Our bodies have problems sometimes and I thank God that mine have been really very minor and able to be addressed and resolved. 

Rather than believing in luck, I choose to rely on God's grace and I have faith that He will see me through.  Seeing yourself as "lucky" may or may not make you happy, but having the peace that comes with acceptance of life's challenges and the knowledge that God is always on your side certainly will. So, I will thank God for my blessings and ask for His help when things are hard.  That will bring me much more happiness than throwing salt over my shoulder or carrying a rabbit's foot ever could. 

My first blog post ever!

I have been thinking about starting a blog for quite a while.  I even started to do the layout for one last year, but I didn't get very far.  A couple of things got in my way.  First, my confidence wavered.  I began to think, "Who would want to read my blog posts?  I'm not an authority on happiness."  Then, I succumbed to "perfection paralysis".  I got stuck in a cycle of tweaking and fixing the formatting because it all had to be just right before I posted anything.

So, what's different now?  Well, for one thing, I told someone about my project.  Last time, I never mentioned my blog to a soul.  Mostly because I didn't want anyone to know if it didn't work out.  But then the other night, our preacher came by to talk to my husband and me.  Somehow in the the course of our conversation, I mentioned the blog that I almost started.  By the time the evening was over, I had recommitted myself to the idea.

Another change is a shift in my perspective.  I realized that this blog doesn't have to be perfect; it just has to be real.  I also decided that, while I truly hope that people want to read my blog and find some inspiration from what I write, it serves a purpose even if it is only a place for me to scribble my thoughts about happiness in all of its forms and inspirations.  I truly believe that 95% of happiness is based upon our attitudes toward the events in our lives.  I know that spending time reflecting on the joyful moments can only enhance my happiness.  I hope you want to come along for the ride.  I think it will be lots of fun!