“Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.” ― Abraham Lincoln
From the moment I read the words “happiness is a choice”, I decided to be happy. I do not remember where I read that, but the lesson has stayed with me.
I make that choice every single day. Some days are easy. Some days not so much.
Some days are all sunshine, butterflies and cupcakes. Some days not so much. Some days, it all seems to be falling apart and I struggle not to fall into the victim mentality trap.
At those moments, I really have to work hard to remember that I can be happy no matter what is going on in my life and around me.
Happiness is not something to be achieved or acquired, but is learning to appreciate all we already have in our lives.
“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
One of best and fastest way for me to achieve instant happiness is to make a gratitude list. Counting my blessings puts me in a happy mental space. Smiling and being grateful for being alive is pure happiness.
Chocolate cake and fresh bread with butter also help 😉
But all kidding aside. I work hard at not having my happiness tied to a person, circumstance or an achievement. I am happy just because I make that choice. Every morning I wake up and I make that choice.
Life is about choices.
***
1 Year already!!!!!!
On February 23, it marked one year since meeting Michael face to face – we started exchanging messages on February 8.
Michael has made my life more fun, more adventurous, and indeed happier.
BUT, I was happy before him. He was happy before me. I don’t expect him to make me happy. He doesn’t expect me to make him happy. We are just happier together!
And we plan on being happier together forever!
“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.” ― Albert Camus
“Life has its ups and downs. When you are up, enjoy the scenery. When you are down, touch the soul of your being and feel the beauty.” –Debasish Mridha
I am sorry I haven’t written in awhile. I have been busier than usual with tons of work deadlines and I also have been going out more than usual. But the real culprit is my lack of energy and less than optimal mood. Some days I am struggling to be upbeat.
There is no need to worry, I am still smiling and enjoying life. It is just a downturn on that journey full of ups and downs that we call life. How boring would life be if there were no ups and downs? BORING!!
I am having some issues with my tenant and some other issues that I think are contributing to bringing me down. My hip and clavicle continue to prevent me from exercising the way I want. Lately, health-wise, it seems that if it is not one thing it is another. I am happy to report though that the vertigo feelings are gone! (Thank you Tom for the recommendation!)
“If we do not have the depths, how do we have the heights? Yet you fear the depths, and do not want to confess that you are afraid of them. It is good, though, that you fear yourselves; say it out loud that you are afraid of yourselves. It is wisdom to fear oneself.” ― C.G. Jung
All the issues that are bothering me aren’t really that important in the grand scheme of things. I am able to appreciate that at times such as this, my body, mind, and soul are crying for help. They are telling me that I need to stop, pay attention and make some changes. I need to acknowledge that.
It is time to recharge, to redo, to rethink. Why am I letting situations affect my mood. Happiness has always been a choice for me. I need to remember that.
Life is a mosaic, with good parts and not so good parts all working together to make us a whole beautiful artwork. Broken pieces of anything can be put together and create something beautiful! There is no perfection in mosaic, but there is beauty!
“Climb up the stairs cheerfully, climb down the stairs cheerfully! Let your mind be unaffected by the ups and downs of life!”― Mehmet Murat ildan
It is important that I know and acknowledge that I am blessed beyond belief. My list of blessings are endless.
This downturn is also a way the Universe uses to prevent me from becoming too complacent, too comfortable. It is amazing what and how much we get used to, even pain and discomfort can often become the norm. I keep learning to live with body pain instead of addressing it more effectively.
This not so optimal phase is a wake up call.
I am feeling down, but life continues to be full, and getting fuller by the minute, I am doing my mosaics, eating out often, and going on adventures. Saturday was mosaic studio and a night with the girls. Sunday was the beach. The smile is sometimes forced but it is still a smile 🙂
As far as dating I haven’t given it too much time but I been exchanging messages with a few guys. I have also been exchanging texts with someone I didn’t meet yet, but I see so much potential. Finger crossed. More to come.
I leave you with my latest mosaic project. Another table. I still have to paint it, but I am holding off on that for now. I think I will eventually open a craft shop called “Tables or Us” 😉
“I am awfully greedy; I want everything from life. I want to be a woman and to be a man, to have many friends and to have loneliness, to work much and write good books, to travel and enjoy myself, to be selfish and to be unselfish… You see, it is difficult to get all which I want. And then when I do not succeed I get mad with anger.”― Simone de Beauvoir
I have been frustrated and angry. Angry with people. Angry at the world. Angry at myself. I wrote a post about it. I took a break from it, came back and re-read it. I wanted to throw up.
It was all about me wallowing in self pity. It was this long list of complaints. I went on and on about people not being fair to me and the fact that I cannot do anything at the moment. It was me being sad, angry and feeling powerless.
“The best fighter is never angry.” – Lao Tzu
Since when did I become that person? I refuse to allow myself to be down in the dumps. I refuse to be angry without action. Just being angry solves nothing, just eats me up inside.
Do I have a cause to be annoyed and complain? Yes, I do. But what will I accomplish if I let myself go down that rabbit hole called anger? I fear never coming out of it.
Whatever I am facing now I have to learn to live with it for the time being. It is not the “punching it in the face” time yet. Time and time again I am being taught patience and reminded that it is not my timing, but the divine timing. There is a right time for everything.
“Never respond to an angry person with a fiery comeback, even if he deserves it…Don’t allow his anger to become your anger.”― Bohdi Sanders
I will do now what I do best. I am going to count my blessings, of which I have so many. I will start making a list, not of everything that is going wrong as I was doing before, but all that is going right. Making a list of all my blessings helps put me in the right frame of mind.
It reminds me of how truly blessed I really am.
“Don’t waste your time in anger, regrets, worries, and grudges. Life is too short to be unhappy.”― Roy T. Bennett
As I deleted that post and embarked upon writing this one I received a message from my brother. He is one of those people the you hate, but love, that will send you memes, jokes, prayers, songs, anything. He sent me the video below.
I thought the message couldn’t be more timely and appropriate for me: Let it be!
The problems, the anger, all the issues that are making me sad, sick, and keeping me awake at night I am going to just let it all be. I am going to put it all aside until the right time to deal with it. Chances are that they will resolve themselves before then.
I am not one to let problems sit still, but Kabbalah taught me that some of my actions are really overreactions and knee jerk responses that only bring about more pain and chaos.
I now try to let a problem be still and marinate before attacking it. Taking that time beween problem and action helps me see things clear and deal with the problem with the right amount of attention and force.
“Anybody can become angry — that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way — that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy.”― Aristotle
Until I am ready to deal with the problem why should I let all that is annoying me and ailing me take away my sanity and energy? I refuse to do it.
These times haves been a struggle for everyone. It seems that there is one problem after another, but such is life – a succession of challenges.
In my now deleted post I mentioned needing peace and wisdom. We all do! But what I sometimes fail to remember is that those are all within in me They are my core. I just have to connect to it.
I will not find those outside. Peace is within me and happiness is a choice. Those abstract concepts makes so much sense to me. That knowledge is both powerful and freeing. I can assert for sure that I am at peace and I am happy. No matter what!
“Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything – anger, anxiety, or possessions – we cannot be free.”― Thich Nhat Hanh
oh, and about that list of everything that is going right in my life, it is just too long! It is becoming a very long list that deserves it’s own post but for starters:
Blessed with a Star on the Forehead 