Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Happy Thoughts

The morning of January 1 I arose from my flannel sheet enshrouded bed--not quickly, I'll add--because it is really hard to get out of those and face the chilly morning air. But I woke up and felt grateful! I felt grateful for my warm bed, for my house, for the family that dwells in it, for the New Year and the opportunities it holds. I felt grateful for all these things and therefore HAPPY.

I do not take that kind of morning for granted people. "Oh great, Here we go again" is more my style.
Especially on those harried school mornings.

I don't consider myself an unhappy person. I'm pretty happy most of the time but sometimes I can fade in and out of crabbiness. My thoughts can sometimes drift in the negative and I can look at the world through mold darkened glasses...

What? I just cleaned that! The house cannot stay clean for 5 minutes? Seriously! I need a vacation...Hawaii..
I'm never going to be able to afford the things I want to do. I should probably go get a job today. I'm certainly not doing a very good job as a stay at home mom so I might as well go to work and make some money. Why didn't I major in something that was actually marketable?  It's not like there are any good jobs around here anyway. I live in the land-locked middle of nowhere! They don't even have an orchestra in the schools?! School boards. Government. Bureaucracies. Ugh. Nobody likes me everybody hates me. Think I'll go eat (chocolate covered gummy) worms.

Well, if that doesn't make you want to get back in your flannel sheets...

Grateful = Happy. Why do I ever forget that? Why can't I realize in those moments that I'm wearing the dark glasses and need to throw them down and obliterate them with one deliberate step. Forever.  Life can be pretty awesome if that's how we choose to look at it.

I love this excerpt from Pilgrim's Progress:
I am content with what I have,
Little be it or much
And Lord, contentment still I crave,
Because thou savest such.

I'm grateful to live in my dream house and that I have the job of making sure it's orderly and that our family runs smoothly.
I'm really grateful that I have kids because there was a time when I wanted them so badly and I thought I might not be able to have any.
I'm thankful to be married to a good guy who works on being forgiving, patient and unselfish and helps me do the same.
I'm grateful I don't have to sleep alone. I would be scared and cold.
I'm grateful for a healthy body that can run (not too far) and jump and likes to have fun.
Isn't it great to live in this day and age? We can buy grapes in the winter and when it gets dark we can make it lighter or warmer with the flip of a switch! Awesome.
I'm grateful for the people in my neighborhood.  If I were in a bind or needed something there are dozens of friends I could call on for help.
I don't have to wait in traffic.
I'm grateful for music and flowers and creme brulee and good books and whiskers on kittens...:)
I'm grateful to live in America and have more freedom than most of the world. Seriously if you had to be a woman in any country or historical period this is the one. Right here. Right now.
I'm grateful for technology and that I can find information about anything in seconds. Wow.
I'm grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who is patient, forgiving, and unselfish.
He has given me all these blessings and more.
Life is grand.

Yep, Grateful = Happy                HAPPY NEW YEAR



4 comments:

Megan Goates said...

I actually have a pair of those mold-crusted glasses too, Laur. This is beautiful and perfectly said. Love!

Sherie Christensen said...

I love the times when I wake up grateful, and when I don't, it's great to wake up and read about someone who did so that I can remember again to feel more grateful myself. Life IS grand!
Thank you.

cold cocoa said...

Very good to read especially at the start of a new year, and in a month that is January...not my fave.
I know too how focusing on those things we have is the way to go to be happy. Or adjusting the negatives somehow in just the right way to make them more pleasant.

Sheree said...

I needed to read this today!