Happiness Comes From Within
Now that 2020 is a week old, it is time to take stock and think about what direction you would like this new year to take. What do you want to do with your time? I want to do things that make me feel happy. Happiness is hard to define. The Oxford dictionary defines happy as, “a feeling or showing pleasure or contentment.” Happiness cannot be measured, yet you know when you are not happy. When I am not happy, I feel differently and a little down.
However, anyone who knows me well knows I am generally a very happy person. Very little ever gets me down. My friends and former staff would always tell me they loved my positive attitude towards life. The fact is, every day brings me joy. I have so much to be grateful for. Where we live, one can’t help but be happy. We live in a beautiful area and can celebrate the four seasons, but there are so many other things that make me happy.
FAMILY makes me happy. I have a wonderful loving husband. For 50+ years we have shared the joys of watching our children grow into fine adults. We have five awesome grandchildren that are so very special. We have made so many great memories and continue a life of adventure and love. Even after all this time, we still enjoy each-others company and doing things together.
HOBBIES make me happy. My favorite hobby is some form of scrapbooking; whether I am developing a new page design for an awesome photo I took or am designing and making a new greeting card. I also love to sew. My current project involves making food prep aprons and pot holders. I hope to sell them on Etsy when I have enough made. In addition, I have always loved to read and am trying some new genres this year. I find it very peaceful and relaxing to curl up with a good book and a hot cup of herbal tea. Of course, the nice thing about reading is you can do it anywhere.
FITNESS makes me happy. I love my yoga time and actually find solitude when I ride my stationary bike. I have joined a couple of fitness sites on Facebook so I have others to motivate me and I can take part in challenges. My favorite form of a workout is taking a long hike in the woods with my hubby or a long walk on the beach. I can’t wait to hit the road to warmer digs this winter so we can walk everyday.
CAMPING makes me happy. There is something special about setting up your campsite in a rustic campground. If you do have neighbors, they are usually not close. The nice thing about a rustic campground is the beauty of the forest around you and usually it is near a river or lake. We love it as the campgrounds are usually near all the wonderful sites our beautiful state of Michigan has to offer. At night you can enjoy the glow of a gas lantern as well as the coziness of your campfire. If you are lucky, once it gets dark, you can listen to the chirp of crickets, croaking of the bull frogs or the song of a Whip-poor-will.
MUSIC makes me happy. It really doesn’t matter the genre. I enjoy classic country as well as classical music. In fact, when I was younger I played the violin and was in the school orchestra for 8 years. I love to listen to 50’s and 60’s rock-n-roll but am not opposed to 70’s and 80’s rock either. I enjoy jazz, swing and gospel. I consider music as food for my soul and listen to it whenever I can. I love to drive down the road, turn on the radio and sing along.
TRAVEL makes me happy. My husband and I love to travel and to explore new places. For us, getting there is half the fun. We also cherish many of the places we have been and often re- visit those places. We head to warmer digs the end of January. We usually settle somewhere along the Gulf Coast for a few weeks before we journey to Florida. We always take the time to head to Pensacola, Florida and take a tour of the Naval Air Museum. Walking the gorgeous beaches of the Gulf Coast never gets old. Near Mobile, Alabama is another of our favorites to visit, Bellingrath Gardens. We like to spend a day touring Bellingrath Gardens and on occasion the beautiful house. One cannot visit Mobile without spending a day or two touring the Battle Ship Alabama. After a few weeks on the Gulf Coast, it is on to Central Florida.
BASEBALL makes me happy. I have always loved baseball. When I was 4 years old, I remember watching my very first professional baseball game on our newly purchased television set. The year was 1950 and to this day I still like a good game. Our three sons all played Little League baseball and were fortunate to be coached by their father who was a pretty good baseball player in high school. Our oldest son played baseball in both high school and junior college. One of his proudest moments was pitching against Derek Jeter when they were both in high school. Now that we are retired, we love spending a month in Lakeland, Florida watching spring training baseball and our Detroit Tigers. We even take in an occasional away game to see what other spring training venues are like.
After leaving Lakeland we usually take our time getting home. This also makes me happy. We head for Natchez, Mississippi. There we enjoy many of the antebellum homes and the azaleas. They are beautiful that time of year. After we leave Natchez, we take the Natchez Trace back to Nashville. It is a lazy drive and full of history and natural beauty. It is always a wonderful ending to our winter get-away.
LIFE makes me happy. I can’t wait to get up each morning and see what life has to offer. Sure, I worry about our children and grandchildren but learned a long time ago that I cannot stop the bad things that might happen in their life. What I can do is offer them my unconditional love and support. I can be a good role model for all of them and show them life does not end when you reach a certain age. I love the quote by George Burns that says, “You can’t help getting older but you don’t have to get old.” George’s career was revived when he was 79 years old and he lived to be 100.
How do you define happiness? Take some time this week and think about what makes you happy. Write it down and revisit it often. If there are things you want to do, find a way to make it happen. There is a quote by David Allen and the first part says, “There are seven days in the week and someday isn’t one of them.”
As always, “Don’t save today for tomorrow.”
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