KIDSBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
"meet" the authors and enter to win.
AUTHORBUZZ: Click here to discover new books,
"meet" the authors and enter to win.
Dear Reader,
A friend sent me an email saying she signed up for the 6-week class, "What Makes You Happy?"
The title of the class made me pause and then smile. There's a whole lot of everything going on in that question. Kind of like the question everyone asks themselves at some point in life, "What's it all about?" Feels like the two questions are in step with each other, harmonious travel companions along life's journeys.
If I sat down and made a list of what makes me happy, it would start with nothing surprising, the things on my list--I talk about them all the time. My electric bubble machine, the flower gardens surrounding our historic home, baking cookies and giving them away, sewing quilts, writing, my wonderful husband (39 years together), our children and grandchildren, five curious loving cats, wonderful friends, and the list could go on. But a few pieces of paper later, I'd be forced to get to the heart of what I think really makes me happy.
Choices make me happy. I can choose, in any situation, how I react and process what's happening. The exercise I frequently turn to is reminding myself that I need to be happy right now, right where I am, every single minute, even in the midst of what feels like tragedy. It's taken a lot of practice, but I am pretty good at finding something to hang on to--a glimmer of happy in the midst of heartache. Not a false being 'one with the world,' because I'm not, I'm in pain. Things aren't fair, the good guy/gal doesn't always win, and sometimes things are just downright heartbreaking. But I know what I really want to do is find the strength to stand above the crap and pull myself out of the muck.
Searching for one or two good things in the muck takes practice. Today, at this very moment, I am feeling happy--I really am! Like the fire drill before the fire, when I'm feeling this good--it's the perfect time to tuck away a list of things that make me happy.
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
KIDS BUZZ: A new series to encourage connections between kids and adults, the LUCKY TO LIVE IN... books by bestselling author Kate B. Jerome are designed to capture a child's story-customized to the state or region where the child lives. Find out for yourself! For a chance to win free copies, say hello to authors and more, go to KIDSBUZZ.
Comments