Happiness

"Success is how you collect your minutes. You spend millions of minutes to reach one triumph, one moment, then you spend maybe a thousand minutes enjoying it. If you were unhappy through those millions of minutes, what good are the thousands of minutes of triumpth? It doesn't equate. Life is made of small pleasures. Good eye contact over the breakfast table with your spouse. Happiness is made of tiny successes." - Norman Neale


I use to be like most everyone else and postpone my happiness until I reached a goal or acquired something like more money. But now that I am getting older I realize how many precious moments were wasted. There always seemed to be a reason why I couldn't do something that would bring me real joy. Usually the reason involved something to do with work or school. I was either too tired, too busy, too stressed, etc.

But in recent years, and especially this year, I have been asking myself, "If not now when?" I have approached midlife and while I have achieved several of the things on my goal list, I noticed that the most important things and people in my life were neglected because of it.

I don't have regrets, but now I am choosing to do things differently. While I still have much to do just like many people do, I have learned to put my happiness and what brings me joy on top of the list of things to do. What does it matter what I achieve if it is only going to bring me temporary joy. Sacrificing the little things that make me truly happy is not worth it.

Today I was thinking about this a lot. Normally I have been too busy to have my son's friends over. He goes to their homes plenty, but usually I am the busy parent who never seems to have time to have the kids over.  But today I said,  "Screw it.  If there is not one reason it's another why they can't come over. Tell them to come over today after school."

This simple decision has not only brought me so much joy, but I can't even begin to tell you how happy the boys are, especially my son. When I hear them laughing, joking and playing with the dog it fills my heart with warm fuzzy feelings.  I was looking back at all those times in the past when I would tell my son I was too stressed out to have people over or the times I did have his friends over, but I was so overwhelmed with stuff I was not really present. I am so glad I do not do that anymore.

No matter how busy I am, I have learned to dedicate time during the week to spend with my son. He is the most important person in my life and when my time comes to pass on, I want to make sure he knows that.  And that he is filled with joyous memories of our time together.

I also make time for me now. This is new. I never seemed to have time for me before. But somehow I always had time for everyone else. This "me" time is so precious and I feel deprived when I don't get at least a few moments to do something that brings me joy. The things that bring me joy do not cost a thing and most do not take much time at all. So there really is no excuse to postpone my happiness until I reach my goals.




"Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy."

                                                                    - The Cockle Bur

"Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling."
                                                   
                                                                   - Margaret Lee Runbeck


"It's not easy to find happiness within ourselves and it is not possible to find it elsewhere."
 
                                                                    -Agnes Repplier