Happiness... Can You Feel It?

Makes no sense I know but... during our school years, we worried about our grades, if we would be asked out, if our clothes were acceptable. What would we do when we graduated? What if we didn't have enough money to go to university? Then we got married and we worried about our kids, our homes, making ends meet. It was if all of our "what ifs" were grabbing every little bit of happiness and stealing it away until we were left with more unhappiness than anything else. I sometimes wonder why schools don't cover the topic of happiness in the curriculum? Just remembering my highschool days, not to mention university, I have to admit, I could have benefited from a crash course on how to be happy.

So, my intention with this page is to provide you (and me) with something to think about on a regular basis. It's time we took back happiness!

Yesterday, I simply couldn't seem to relax and simply enjoy the afternoon. I hadn't done enough... or so I thought! But then I got out a pad of paper and began writing down everything that I had accomplished! I'm looking at that list right now and it seems that once I started writing things down, the list just grew and grew.

Today, I'm going to start on a list of things that I want to accomplish and some of them are going to be fun. That's extremely important to being happy and they are going to include reading from my latest novel and watching 30 minutes of a movie that I have sitting on my shelf. Yes, I like to break my movies up into 30 minute segments. I'm working on the "sitting still" part and for me... that's hard! But, I'm working on it!

Happiness: We rarely feel it. I would buy it, beg it, steal it, Pay in coins of dripping blood For this one transcendent good.

Amy Lowell

 I'm having a little bit of trouble managing my high blood pressure these days and meds just haven't kicked in yet. So, I thought that an I Love Lucy video just might be what is called for. A little laughter is always a good thing!

The above photo was taken in Naples, Florida in January. I was to leave in a few weeks to return to Root Canal treatments, so a day here was exactly what I needed!

Update... root canals finished and to be quite honest, they weren't half as bad as I expected and I don't do anything by halves. I needed an Endodontist and a Periodontist to get the job done. Okay, so it wasn't as painful as I expected but I am now over my limit of dental insurance as of May 2009. Here's hoping that nothing major needs to be done until 2010!

Vacations don't necessarily mean hitting every mall in the area. A simple walk costs you nothing and you can imagine the benefits of a few minutes here! It was just a little bridge that I found while wandering around Punta Gorda, Florida.  I think that I must have stood there for at least five minutes and did absolutely nothing... and for me... that's a tough thing to do!

 There are going to be days when you are simply going to feel horrid. That is just the time to throw out your routine and do something completely different. Sometimes we simply fall into a rutt and new tricks are required. Why do I know this to be true?? Because that's how I woke up today!

I own the book AND the CDs and both have made me view life differently. It's funny one thing that Dr. Holden mentioned... All through his medical school training, all the students were taught were  the different phobias that they would be dealing with in their practices. Not once did the word happiness come into the lecture. Thank heavens he noticed the problem and did something about it.

*A very easy read :)

If you are feeling... well lets just say... miserable, go somewhere that will lift your spirits. We have a park close by and sometimes, just going for a walk will put everything into perspective!

The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.
Mark Twain

Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.
Nathaniel Hawthorne