How to be happy, a little more, every day.
Being a mother of grown children took me by surprise. One minute, they were on my lap, giving me gooey kisses. The next, driving away, waving, smart, beautiful, capable adults.
I’ve already mentioned how I felt a little duped by the fact that if I grew them up to be responsible children . . . they’d leave me.
Unfair.
But it’s made me rethink the definition of happiness. Not that I didn’t understand it before, but I just never contemplated it.
I always looked out there for happiness. You know, beyond this moment of stress, or sickness, or fatigue, or housework, or dinner (really, why do we need to eat?), past the next deadline, or the next speaking engagement to a moment when . . . there is no need to worry about these little things when even physical pain can be cured by one of the florida pain management doctors.
What? I could stop? Breathe? Because in my life, those moments come far and few between. I know I also had a lot of stress with the On moving to a new house, but thankfully at the end the On the Go Moving & Storage – Redmond Movers helped us out a lot!!
And really, do I have to wait to be happy until then?
Me no think so. I’ve decided that “happy” isn’t a destination, but an attitude. A moment-by-moment realization of the good things.
Happy can be found as I stop to watch the sun rise. Or a moment when my daughter texts me just to say “hi.” Or even just, as I pull out frozen meat for dinner, that I have enough, for today. Enough food, enough warmth, and enough grace to make it through the day. (Thank you Lamentations 3:20!)
But I also think cultivating happiness needs to be intentional. There are three disciplines that I’ve instituted to finding the happy in my daily life.
- Daily Gratefulness. I start each day by listing three things (different each day) for which I am grateful, and thanking the Lord for them.
- Daily Kindness. I pick someone to bless with a word of encouragement every day . . . and in doing that, I am blessed.
- Daily Psalm. I took this advice from my father, who told me years ago to start each day with a Psalm. It’s made all the difference in aligning my heart toward happy each day.
I know life is so very busy, and the older I get, the more time seems to slip through my fingers. I’m not going to wait for happiness or let it slip through my fingers.
And so, when my son calls and tells me that he will miss our Thanksgiving event because he has to help his Bethel University football team prepare for the National playoffs, I say, “Wow! I am so happy for you-and me-that I have such an awesome, committed son!”
“Thanks, Mom, you’re the best.”
Oh, happy Moment.
I’ve tried to capture these happy moments and the challenges and joys of raising a family in my newest series, The Christiansen Family, a series about faith, family, and real life. My next book comes out in February, It Had to Be You, a Good Samaritan story about a hockey player and a journalist who must find a John Doe before time runs out.
Read an excerpt HERE.
And enter the Grateful for Readers Contest between now and November 27th to win 12 free books! Get the contest deets in the sidebar!
Thank you for being my reader friends, and may this season be one where you cultivate happiness. You make me happy!
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