Well, do you? Not the fake, “just get me from one day to the next happy”, either. You know what “happy” I am talking about. The kind that just exudes from you and people just smile when they see you or think of you. Happiness is a choice, and it takes work some days. I am not going to sugar coat it. I don’t have time for that. But, seriously, when was the last time, you said to yourself or someone else that you were happy? REALLY happy? Sure, we all got stuff that comes up from time to time, just to make sure we are paying attention. What makes you happy? Is that something you continue to do? If you don’t, why not? How many times do we tell our kids, “we just want you to be happy?” The apple doesn’t fall too far, people. If your son did not want to play a musical instrument because they didn’t like it, would you still make him play it? What if your daughter decided to quit playing soccer after years of cleats and extra practices? Would you drag her down to tryouts anyway? We both know the answer, don’t we? Why are we such hypocrites? No wonder our kids get such mixed messages. We tell them, “We want you to be happy, but when it comes to us, we can’t find something that makes us happy.” Why would they ever want to grow into adults knowing that happiness does not come with age? Me, I would pick being a kid forever! Why do you think Peter Pan never wanted to grow up! Have you given happiness to someone else recently? Why wouldn’t you? No one has ever said, “I just can’t accept what you are giving to me…it makes me too happy.” That does not happen! You and I both know it! There are so many negative, hurtful, and destructive things that go on in this world that we cannot change. But our choice to be happy is not one of them. We can always change the way we feel and regardless of what is going on in our lives, we can be happy that we have loved ones, food on the table, and clothes to wear. Life is not perfect but being happy is just about as close as you can get. There is plenty of time to take care of our responsibilities, but for now “Don’t worry, be happy” by Bobby McFerrin
Michelle A. Homme 2013 ©
