The darkness does not endure!

[BeingMe]

I'm a stay-at-home mom at the moment, and I have plenty of time to philosophize about life. Today, I was thinking about happiness. What is happiness? How does one acquire happiness? Am I happy with my life? I think this all comes down to the notion of each of us being responsible for our own happiness, and not relying on others making us happy.

Many people in history have said it in various ways, but I think Abe Lincoln said it with the most straight forward honesty, for which he was famous, "most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be". I think this is how one can acquire happiness - you make the choice to be happy. In other words, it's all in the mind. In our heads, we have a constant barrage of messages, and recordings going on - it is continuous. A background message could be, "I am not good enough", but we can change that with, "I have a lot to offer the world". These are just examples (which works in my case, anyway).

So! What is happiness? Is it joy, serenity, feelings of satisfaction, liking oneself, or variations on this? I believe it to be all this and more. I think happiness can be somewhat intangible, but you know it when you got it. One can acquire it by making the choice to be happy, and one can retain it by working at being positive, thoughtful in one's dealings with the world, making time to laugh, but also time to work. I think there is joy sometimes (more sporadic, since I think true joy only comes when you're in the presence of our Heavenly Father), constantly learning to trust ourselves and love ourselves, choosing to be calm most times, using our gifts and talents, and forgiving ourselves for our shortcomings.

Life is such a challenge, but also such an adventure. Even when going through a marital asteroid belt, we can still live in the moment, and be happy with ourselves.

So! Bearing the above in mind, these are my goals to remain happy with my life:

Love unconditionally, including myself
Invest time in my own spirituality
Laugh - there's always a funny side to everything - have fun
Be at peace, and seek out quiet moments
Have a positive attitude, and an adventurous spirit
Encourage my own talents and skills, and grow them
Always seek to learn something new - knowledge is power, after all
Work at being healthy and fit
Listen to others, and that small, still voice, and think before speaking (difficult one for me)
Do not fear!

And, as a Chinese Proverb says, I need to remember to, "be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still". It all takes time, patience, and the will to want to change and remain happy with one's life. I am not at the top, but I have climbed to the first step which is acknowledgment of the need to grow, and change.

Wish you all the best in your life's journeys!