What Is Happiness?

"It is inevitable when one has a great need of something, one finds it. What you need you attract like a lover"

~Gertrude Stein

Leaving for our son's Make A Wish trip, Summer 2010.

 

 

Have you ever asked yourself what you truly need to be happy?

Is it a bigger house?

More money?

A second vehicle?

 

I used to think it was those things...
Until my son was diagnosed with cancer just before Thanksgiving in 2009.
That really makes you stop and evaluate what makes you happy...
 

If we just had more money to meet the bills and have some "mad money"...

If we had a couple hundred more square feet on house then everyone will have room to pursue their passions...

If we had a second vehicle then I could go to run errands and visit with people and volunteer more and....

 

The truth is: those things don't really matter.
 

The bigger house? More to clean and less time spent together as a family.

More money? The bills just get bigger or the hobbies more expensive.

A second vehicle? More time spent away from the family. And that extra money? There it goes.

 

 

I challenge you to ask yourself... What do I truly need to be happy?

Not happy the way society and the media portray happiness... But happy in your soul?

 

To be fully content.

 

You might surprise yourself.

 

This is my list.

 

TIME:

With my Savior, learning to be the servant of my world.

With myself, to check in and make sure that I am nurtured and balanced in my pursuits.

With my family, developing deep, loving relationships that will ground my children in the security of a family identity.

 

FREEDOM:

From the doubt that I have listened to that still small voice and am walking the path already laid for me... no matter how rocky it is.

 

SPACE:

To garden, not acres and acres but enough to spend a little time each day nurturing beautiful and growing things.

To sew, beautiful and practical items that make my home more inviting

To cook, and nurture food as not just necessary for living but also as a time to savor the small things; like red velvet cupcakes in colorful wrappers with the perfect cream cheese frosting swirled just so.

To heal, and practice the art of holistic healing and leading those that come to me in their own healing journey.

To live, life as I see it.

 

"It is only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth - and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up - that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had."

~Elisabeth Kubler-Ross