My Little Jar of Happiness

Happy New Year!

“In this new year, may you have a deep understanding of your true value and worth, an absolute faith in your unlimited potential, peace of mind in the midst of uncertainty, the confidence to let go when you need to, acceptance to replace your resistance, gratitude to open your heart, the strength to meet your challenges, great love to replace your fear, forgiveness and compassion for those who offend you, clear sight to see your best and true path, hope to dispel obscurity, the conviction to make your dreams come true, meaningful and rewarding synchronicities, dear friends who truly know and love you, a childlike trust in the benevolence of the universe, the humility to remain teachable, the wisdom to fully embrace your life exactly as it is, the understanding that every soul has its own course to follow, the discernment to recognize your own unique inner voice of truth, and the courage to learn to be still.” 

― Janet Rebhan

I made a happiness jar for myself and the boys for 2014.  I can't wait to make it overflow.  I will share some of my greatest moments with you at the end of the year.

May all of your happiness jars burst at the seams in 2014!

Cheers,
Megs

The New Attitude - Gratitude!

Tis’ the season…for ungratefulness, entitlement, selfishness and receiving.  Oh wait, wait, wait…let me try that again…tis’ the season for overconsumption, credit card debt and pedestrians run over in the Walmart crosswalk.  Hmm that’s not quite right either…tis’ the season for stress, high blood pressure and panic attacks.

I know, I know…I sound so pessimistic.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas…BUT (you know whatever comes after the “but” is not going to be good) I have heard a theme coming from many people this year.  The theme is around gratitude or the lack thereof.

In the days leading up to Christmas my boys asked me, “Did you bring us a present today?”  In the days following Christmas my boys asked me, “Did you bring us a present today?”  The more they got the more than wanted.  I heard a mother say that her daughter counted her gifts and said, “6 gifts, you can do better than that.”  I heard a father say that his son was ungrateful because the gift wasn’t exactly what he had asked for.  I heard a coworker say that her children feel entitled.

Part of me says, “kids will be kids”, the other part of me says, “it is my mission to teach my children gratitude.”  So often we hear about focusing on the “reason for the season” and taking the emphasis off of presents.  It is so much easier said than done.  I think most of us are guilty of material gluttony at some point or another.

The older my boys get, the more I would like to open their eyes to the lives of people less fortunate than ourselves.  How eye opening would it be to go to a soup kitchen on Christmas eve or Christmas morning and see people with no family, no presents, no Christmas smorgasbord; some with simply the clothes on their back and their next meal in a bowl in front of them.

If any of you have heartwarming stories of thankfulness and gratitude expressed by your kids, please share.  If any of you have “heartcooling” (yeah I just made it up) stories of ungratefulness or entitlement, please share.  If any of you have ideas on how to nurture gratitude please share.

Counting My Blessings,

Meg  

Show Me The Love

As I read through my notes from “The Happiness Project” this quote jumped out at me.

“There is no love; there are only proofs of love.  

Whatever love I might feel in my heart, others will see only my actions.”

-Pierre Reverdy

It is so important to align our actions with our feelings.  That is the only way others will truly understand how we feel.  Our inner feelings must be translated outwardly through our interactions with others and the way we choose to conduct ourselves in our day to day lives.

Throughout my lifetime I have looked into people’s eyes and listened to them pour there heart out, or at least what they claimed was in their heart, only to turn around and act in a way that clearly conflicted with their words.

 

This leaves me with many questions.  Does that person love me?  Does that person just say they love me?  What do their actions say about how they feel?  These are hard questions to answer.

Alignment is key to our happiness.  We must align our life with our faith, morals and values.  We must align our actions with our feelings.  To be misaligned hurts others, especially the ones you love.  But more importantly it hurts yourself, because if you can’t be true to yourself you will never be true to someone else, and you will rob yourself of the deepest, truest emotions and connections.

I wrote a post, "To Thine Own Self Be True", which is the foundation of being true to others.  I will do my best to make sure the ones I love know just how much.  I will hope that the ones that love me show me just how much.

As you live your life, think about the fact that nobody else can truly know how you feel, unless you show them.  Shape your actions, interactions, and words around your heart.

Much Love,

Megan  

Super Mom

Just call me Super Mom.  I totally earned the title this weekend.  The boys and I bought a rubber band bracelet loom and made enough bracelets to cut off the circulation of 100 small children or 1 large elephant, we attended a birthday party at The Little Gym, we had a dinner date with the BFF, we made Christmas cookies, we attended a night in Bethleham, we shopped for and made goodie bags for the boys classes and SO MUCH MORE.

This is a shout out to all of you moms (and dads):

• Spending countless hours and dollars creating the perfect Christmas for your kids
• Bravely lunging across the room with a shoe to kill the spider threatening your family
• Coming up with the most creative Elf on the Shelf locations
• Packing the most edible lunches for school
• Creating an awesome advent calendar
• Planning amazing birthday parties
• Sitting on the front row of the Christmas sing-a-long
• Wrestling in the living room
• Instilling confidence in your children
• Chaufering your children to and from all of there many extracurricular activities.

Obviously this was a random, very random, sampling of what you do.  But the most important thing is just to be present and be you.

If you are still reading this – my guess is you are a great parent.  I am in awe of you every single day for the time/energy/love you put into the lives of your children.  I hope, and in most circumstances believe, that what you put in will be a reflection of what comes out.  Give yourself a pat on the back and remind yourself that there is no one more important than you to your children.  Your role makes a difference, some would say it makes all the difference.  Here’s to all of you Super Moms and Super Dads in the world!  

XOXO,

Megan

To Thine Own Self Be True

Yesterday I read a sentence that resonated with me, “Dream, speak and act in congruency and anything is possible.”  I jotted it down on an index card and put it in my handy dandy index card box full of totally insightful and totally useless bits of information that make up my life.

Today I was reading an article on tinybuddha.com and came across a similar message.  The article began with the following quote:

“He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the world.” ~Marcus Aurelius

It went on to say, “When you are alone, spend some time considering whether you are happy and if you are acting congruently with your values.”

These thoughts left me with a few takeaways.

The first is that life is full of possibilities and your choices are endless.  Shoot for the stars, but remember that your own inner compass it what will guide you to that star.  You must talk the talk AND you must walk the talk.

The second and, in my opinion, more important takeaway is about our inner harmony.  It doesn’t matter if we reach the stars if we are not happy and content with ourselves and our lives.  I think a good example of this is a celebrity such as Britney Spears.  From the outside she has fame, fortune, beauty, talent and is a star.  From the inside, at least at times, she is broken, lost and not living in harmony with herself and the world.

Ask yourself:

Who am I?

Am I the person I want to be?

What do I believe in?

Do I stand up for what I believe in?

What do I want out of MY life?

Am I happy?

What makes me happy?

Be the person you want to be.  Live the life you want to live.  Fill your life with the things that make you happy. To thine own self be true.

XOXO,
Meg

No One is Born Racist!

I started this post several weeks ago, but I did not finish it.  In honor of Nelson Mandela, in honor of the season I think this piece is timely.

No one is born racist, homophobic, liberal, conservative or full of hate.  Each and every one of us is a blank slate.  However our beliefs are quickly influenced by the people around us, specifically the people closest to us.

 

Some of the most sad, frustrating and infuriating experiences for me are seeing the beautiful, open and loving minds of children being taught to hate.  The hate being taught is not a gift – it is a burden.  These children are not being saved from future hurt by some faceless “bad person”, they are simply learning that entire groups of people are bad and should be categorized as such.  Children’s worlds are narrowed with the thoughts that certain people are innately bad or good, based solely on the color or their skin, their sexual preference or their political or religious beliefs.

 

It is so important to teach our children to love.  They will be happier if they see the good in people.  They will be stronger if they can connect with people.  They will be healthier if they are full of love, not hate.

Be love.  Be kindness.  Be understanding.  Be compassionate.  Be generous.  Be thoughtful.  Be the person you hope your children to become.  That is the greatest gift you could possibly give them.

XOXO,

Megs

Laughter, Suspicion and Deerbras!

We’ve all heard or read about the importance of smiling and laughing, something like laughter is the best medicine or a smile a day keeps the doctor away…or maybe that’s an apple.

 

Today I want to talk about something EVEN BETTER!  Oh my word I just love what I’m getting ready to talk about!  You know those thoughts, those sights, that just *BAM* instantly make you break out into a cheesy grin or a laugh out loud moment ALONE!  Everyone around you is staring or they become paranoid and suspicious!  HAHAHA!  Or maybe the thoughts that just turn one side of your mouth up in a little knowing grin, or they make you pee in your pants, or they make you cry from laughing so hard, or they make your face hurt, or they make your stomach hurt, or they make you snort.  Man oh man – those are the best moments!

 

Oh, oh, oh or how about the times when you ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY should not be laughing, like at church, in class, during an intense argument, when someone hurts themselves or dies or any other awkward situation where it’s completely inappropriate.  So maybe, it’s totally wrong and maybe in the moment I feel awful about it, but not too awful I suppose…because WHY DO I KEEP LAUGHING, but right now I am here to tell you that it is a blessing and something to be thankful for.  To be able to feel that genuine happiness, even if for a fleeting and wrong timed moment, is a gift.

I love to laugh, I love to make people laugh and I am not afraid to make a complete fool of myself in the process.

 

This skit makes me laugh, I just can’t help myself!  Kevin Hart is a genius.  Be forewarned it has bad language, but sit back, relax and get ready to pee in your pants!

I hope you all get one extra smile and laugh today from reading this blog then spread the love!

XOXO,

Megan

Trailer Park Trash (or Treasure)

As my youngest son Gavin and I come to a stop sign on the way to daycare he looks out the window and says, “those houses are nice.”  I look out the car window to where he is pointing and I see Shady Grove Trailer Park. 

My thoughts…

We are taught and we learn to see value in some things and not others.  As the years go by it seems that we are putting more and more value into material possessions.  Children my boys ages (4 & 6) have cell phones, tablets and toys that take over the entire house.  (You know what I’m talking about.)

The expectations of children are changing – they are higher – they want the latest and greatest of everything and they are quick to tell us how Johnny Doe at daycare has one and it’s just not fair.

On the other hand, we have all spent entirely too much money on a certain toy that is rarely used, while the kids are totally enthralled and spend hours playing with a cardboard box. 

I give my boys some great toys, but it is more important to me that I give them great experiences, great morals, great characters and a great foundation for them to be successful in life.

Value is in the eyes of the beholder and it is all relative, I hope my boys always find value in the things that bring them true happiness.  

XOXO,

Meg

Children - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Today my post is about children.  I have lots of thoughts going through my head.  It’s likely this is going to take several different tangents.

Last night my 6 year old son, Dallas’, first tooth fell out.  We put it in a Ziploc bag and he wrote, “Dallasis 1^st Tooth.”  He was concerned the tooth fairy might not be able to find it under his pillow so he wanted to put it on the bookshelf.  (I’m not sure if he was actually worried she wouldn’t find it, or worried about her being right there under his pillow.)  Then he was worried she might run into the wood part of the bed and hurt herself.  After I assured him he was not in a position to question the tooth fairies ability to do her job, he finally put it under his pillow, but asked if he could sleep on my pillow with me (which he did).  A child’s sense of wonder, ability to live in the present and unharnessed excitement inspires me, humbles me and encourages me to make the most of this life for myself and others.

Today I had lunch with Dallas at school.  As I looked around the cafeteria full of first and second graders I saw a room buzzing with excitement, full of conversation, laughter, smiles, kids following the rules, eating healthy foods and loving life.  This made me think of the innate goodness of children.  When I think of their goodness, their naïve nature, their innocence, I also think of what it takes to help them successfully bridge the gap between childhood, adolescence, adulthood and parenthood.  What do I need to do to be the most rockin’ trail guide on the path of life?

I read an article today.  Warning – this is a terrible news story about the treatment of children.  Here’s the link - http://m.nydailynews.com/1.140154.  If you are like me you will hardly be able to comprehend what you just read and you will not stop thinking about it.  It reminds me how different all of our stories are; can you imagine being this girl in her adult life telling her story?  How does she get from where she is now to where she is destined to go?  Does she survive and thrive and go on to make the world a better place because of her own horrifying experiences?  Does she never overcome the mental and physical strain she has endured during her first 6 years of life?  None of us know the answer to these questions, but we do know she has started on a completely different playing field than we did or that our own children have.

My thoughts:

• Allow yourself to get lost in the magical world of a child
• Take parenting seriously and make it your first priority
• Help others less fortunate than yourself
• Remember that we all come from very different walks of life

Your thoughts?

XOXO,

Meg

Physical and Spiritual Fitness

phys·i·cal

• of or relating to the body as opposed to the mind.
• of or relating to the things perceived through the senses as opposed to the mind; tangible or concrete.

spir·it·u·al

• of, relating to, or affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.
• of or relating to religion or religious belief.

One day as I was running, I thought of the concept of physical and spiritual fitness – and I like it!  It is such a holistic view of our selves.  I think there are 2 main categories that we fall into in regards to our well-being, our physical health and our mental health.  Often times though, we only focus on one or the other, or neither. 

It is so easy to neglect ourselves.  It’s hard to carve out the time to flex our physical and spiritual muscles. 

How can we become fit?  The first step is just to recognize what our body and our mind needs.  Then we must make a conscious decision to actively pursue what we’ve recognized that we need.  Lastly, forming healthy habits in both realms is what takes this from a thought to a lifestyle.

Here’s a couple of lists to get you started. J

Physical Fitness

• Gym
• Walk
• Run
• Hike
• Workout DVDs
• Play a sport
• Anything to get your heart pumping and your body moving

Spiritual Fitness

• Time for yourself
• Time for the ones you love
• Time to do the activities you love
• Relaxation
• Prayer
• Religion
• Meditation

What do YOU do to stay fit?  Let me know!

XOXO,

Megan 

This Little Light of Mine

(I just ran across this journal entry from October of last year and I thought I'd share.)

This Little Light of Mine

October 29, 2012

Yesterday the boys and I went to church.  This may not sound monumental, but in reality it is quite significant.  It was our second week of attending church, ever.  A young girl named Grace sang a song she’d been working on to share with us.  The song is “This Little Light of Mine” by Addison Road.  Her song touched me, her song is still in my head and my heart and I want to keep it there forever.

 

Throughout the day yesterday Dallas kept singing bits and pieces of it as we went through our everyday motions.  My heart melted each and every time I heard his sweet voice singing about his little light shining.  As a mother, this is my primary focus, my biggest responsibility, my life’s purpose.  How do I keep my children’s light shining, day after day, through the ups and the downs, through the teenage years, through heartbreaks, through disappointments through all of life’s challenges?  To take it one step further, how do I keep their light shining bright enough to shed that glow on the people they touch throughout their lives?

What does this “light” mean to me?  This light is happiness, love, strong, healthy relationships, contentment, appreciation, gratitude, wonder, positive thinking, having an open mind and an open heart, striving to be the best you and having a general understanding of what’s important in life.  It’s imperative that this light guide our words, our actions and our lives.  Like Dallas, we need to be singing this song and living it out loud, so our motions are always accompanied by our guiding light.

XOXO,

Meg

Me and My Boys

Some of the priceless photos taken by the amazing Jackie!  I will treasure them forever.

http://www.jaclynraelewisphotography.com/

 

 

 

 

 

  

If I Should Have a Daughter (Or Two Sons)

If I should have a daughter,

I would show her love,

I would build her self-esteem,

I would teach her confidence and self-respect,

I would teach her the importance of being honest,

Living with integrity,

And always doing her best,

I would tell her that happiness comes from within,

Then grows through her relationships with others

I would make sure she knows that inner beauty is lasting,

Outer beauty is fleeting,

And that she is gorgeous,

I would discourage gossip,

Encourage understanding,

Tell her that everyone has a story,

Ask her to listen,

And to be compassionate,

I will tell her that life is hard,

There are highs and there are lows,

Allow yourself to feel them,

And know that you are always growing,

I would encourage her to travel,

To gather new experiences,

To open her mind,

And to broaden her view of the world,

I would tell her to believe in something,

Stand up for what she believes in,

And to have a mind of her own,

I would give all that I am,

To make her all that she can be,

I don’t have to wait for a daughter,

Because I have two sons.

Check out this Ted Talk - it is worth the watch!

XOXO,

Meg

Compassion

com·pas·sion

• Sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress with a desire to alleviate it

My son, Dallas, is in first grade.  He has an assignment to read 15 minutes every night and each night a new book comes home with him in a little bag.  They are familiar with the book, because they read it in class before they bring it home.  Last night he read a book about a lion and a rabbit.  In a nutshell, the lion had a rabbit that he was going to eat, but then he saw a deer and left the rabbit since the deer was bigger, the deer out ran the lion and when the lion returned to the rabbit it was gone.  As the lion ran after the deer I said “I hope that lion can’t catch that deer.”  Dallas responded, “Are you sure?  You might want the lion to catch the deer”.  I thought, oh no son, I’ve seen animal planet, I most definitely want that deer to win this race.  Well, Dallas turned to the last page which read, “And he had to stay hungry”.  Dallas looked at me with red rimmed eyes and said, “See, that almost makes me cry.”  My six year old son and his six year old emotions were able to feel compassion; the sight of it in those little eyes at that moment was incredible.

Compassion is a trait that promotes understanding, acceptance, harmony and altruism.  These are all characteristics I want to instill in my children.  What an impact it would have on the world if we all cared about others a little more.  If my son felt sympathy towards that lion in his story, think about the life lesson there, imagine in his day to day life the people he will come across that will be affected positively by his ability to feel compassion.

I’ve thought a lot about being a purposeful parent as opposed to just a parent.  Compassion is one of the sections in my “Purposeful Parent Handbook”.  (BTW – This doesn’t exist – but maybe I should create one for myself?!?)

Reading the list below inspired me to focus on compassion.  I hope that you can find a way to be compassionate today, and make note of how it makes the other person feel and in turn how that makes you feel.

From:  "Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life by Karen Armstrong"

The Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life

1. Learn About Compassion
2. Look at Your Own World
3. Compassion for Yourself 
4. Empathy
5. Mindfulness
6. Action
7. How Little We Know
8. How Should We Speak to One Another?
9. Concern for Everybody
10. Knowledge
11. Recognition
12. Love Your Enemies

XOXO,

Megan

Love Yourself, Forgive Yourself, Be Yourself!

I am a big note taker.  I think this falls somewhere in the same category as my list making.  I used to be hesitant to make marks in books that I read so I took long, time consuming notes.  UVA, my Anthropology major, and the endless amounts of required reading broke me of that, I now LOVE to highlight, asterisk, underline and jot notes in the margin of everything I read.  When it’s crunch time it is so much easier and faster than taking notes and when I reread any of it, it just takes a skim to pull out what to me are the most fascinating parts.

When I went back through my “The Four Agreements”, just in the introduction I marked all of the following…and we haven’t even gotten to the First Agreement yet.

“Human’s punish themselves endlessly for not being what they believe they should be.”

“But nobody abuses us more than we abuse ourselves, and it is the Judge, the Victim and the belief system that make us do it.”

“The way we judge ourselves is the worst judge that ever existed.”

“In your whole life nobody has ever abused you more than you have abused yourself.  And the limit of your self-abuse is exactly the limit that you will tolerate from someone else.  If someone abuses you a little more than you abuse yourself, you will probably walk away from that person.  But if someone abuses you a little less than you abuse yourself, you will probably stay in the relationship and tolerate it endlessly.”

“If you abuse yourself very badly you can even tolerate someone who beats you up, humiliates you, and treats you like dirt.”

“The more self-love we have, the less we will experience self-abuse.”

“There are thousands of agreements you have made with yourself, with other people, with your dream of life, with God, with society, with your parents, with your spouse, with your children.  But the most important agreements are the ones you made with yourself.  In these agreements you tell yourself who you are, what you feel, what you believe, and how to behave.  The result is what you call your personality.  In these agreements you say, “This is what I am.  This is what I believe.  I can do certain things, and some things I cannot do.  This is reality, that is fantasy, this is possible, that is impossible.”

What did I pull out of this to apply to my life? 

1. Love Yourself
2. Forgive Yourself
3. Be Yourself

I think some people spend a lifetime trying to figure this out.  It’s hard, because I think for most of us it is true that we are our own worst critics.  Several months ago I told a friend how beautiful she looked, she got ready to reel off all of the reasons she most certainly did not look beautiful, then she simply stopped herself and humbly said thank you.  This moment has stuck out in my mind, I watched a shift right before my eyes that happened in seconds, someone deciding that they were going to show self-love, self-acceptance by simply graciously accepting a compliment…it was a beautiful thing.  Self-love takes work, but is there anything else more worthy of work?

XOXO,

Megan

The Four Agreements - Sneak Peak

Are you ready for this?!?  Straight from "The Four Agreements - A Toltec Wisdom Book - A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom" to a computer/smart phone near you I bring you (drum roll please) the 4 agreements.  How was that for a build-up?

Here they are:

The First Agreement: Be Impeccable with Your Word

The Second Agreement: Don't Take Anything Personally

The Third Agreement: Don't Make Assumptions

The Fourth Agreement: Always Do Your Best

There are absolute gems of wisdom in this book, gems I say.  But for today, I will just leave you with the list of 4 above.  I will expand upon it later.  A real cliffhanger isn't it...kind of like the anticipation for the season finale of "Breaking Bad".

That's all for now!

XOXO,

Megan

The Space Between

Years ago, when I listened to “The Space Between” by Dave Matthews, I thought a lot about my own interpretation of the space between.  The song gives you a lot to think about, but I took it in my own direction.  The "space between" is what makes up most of our lives.  The space between being born and starting kindergarten, entering high school and graduating from high school, moving to college and starting your first job, marriage, babies, retirement and death.  This is just a short list of some of the major highlights that make up our life.  Then there are smaller spaces, the space between birthdays, vacations, holidays, visits with loved ones, paychecks and weekends. 

What I want to focus on is the space between morning and night, each and every day that we live.  This is what defines who we are, how we choose to live our lives, how we make people feel and how we make ourselves feel.  This is incredibly important because it is how we spend the majority of our lives, which shapes our day to day happiness and our relationships with others.

I want to take this thought in 2 directions.   The first is that we need to know we have control over our day to day lives, there are always choices, we are accountable for the choices we make and we need to actively work to bring happiness into our lives.  This requires being present, living in the moment, finding ourselves, discovering our likes and dislikes and living “our” life.

The second is what makes us who we are is not often the big, visible, momentous events.  Once in a lifetime we can give money to charity, help a stranger beside the road or help a needy family.  These are wonderful acts of kindness, but it is the kindness displayed on an everyday basis that defines who we are.  On the other hand we can make mistakes, lose our patience, say or do something we regret, but this too does not define who we are.  It is the sum of our everyday actions that make us who we are, what we choose to do in the "space between".

My last point is that we need to do our best to make the space between a happy, healthy place to live.  Surround yourself with the people that make you happy.  Do the activities you love.  Fill your home with items you love.  I think many of us can agree that vacations, holidays and special events are some of the best times of our lives.  Work to bring vacations into your everyday life, mark a weekend, a day, an evening as a “vacation” and do the things that make you happy.  Maybe on vacation you enjoy relaxation, laying in the sun, reading a book, swimming in a pool, enjoying a cocktail, these are all moments you can bring into your life on a regular basis.  The people who share these moments with you also make them special, so plan events with people you enjoy being around, it does not require a wedding, a funeral or a holiday to get together and enjoy each other’s company.  The key to unlocking much of what I have just described is the ability to be grateful.  Be grateful for all of the big things, all of the little things and all of the basic things (like the air you breath) in your life.

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

~Maya Angelou 

XOXO,

Megan

The Best Things in Life are Free

Lists…aren’t they wonderful.  I have to-do lists, grocery lists, packing lists for anywhere I’ve ever gone and would like to go (beach, camping, weekend at grandma’s, one of those little bungalow’s in Bali over the water with the thatched roof, the clear glass floor, the bed with the mosquito thingy around it…you know the one J), honey-do lists and the lists go on and on.  Maybe I’ll write more about lists another day…but my point is…my life would not function without lists.

I thought no way to better kick off my blog than with my happiness list - the simplified version.

1. My Boys (Dallas, 6 and Gavin, 4)
2. My Mom (June aka NeNe)
3. My Health                                          

The best things in life are free!  When applied to my life, this saying is incredibly true.  When I think about what makes me happy, it is about my relationships with others and my relationship with myself.  (Lists are free too!)  Throughout my life I’ve resisted the endless quest for happiness that is just out of reach; the thought that happiness will be skipping around the corner alongside a promotion, a bigger house, a newer car or any other shiny thing.  Two things are innately wrong with this thought for me.  The first is, as the title of my blog suggests, happiness is a pursuit.  Happiness doesn’t just show up at your doorstep and stay forever.  Happiness takes work, dedication, consistency, motivation and is a constant work in progress.  The second is, true and lasting happiness is not found in objects, this happiness is fleeting and more than likely you will never reach a stable happy place because you will always be in want of more.

 

I am happy to be alive and well.  I am happy to have people to love.  I am happy to have people that love me.

XOXO,

Megan