Let happiness sneak up on you

The busy holiday season is over. The family visits and day-long shopping trips have ended. The decorations are put away and the cookies and candy are almost completely consumed. Now what? For me, when the hustle and bustle of the holiday season is over and it's just me and my husband and son, I take a deep breath, look to the future, and try to find some happiness. What? Wasn't I happy when I was visiting family I haven't seen in years? Wasn't I happy when I was shopping my heart out trying to find that perfect gift for that special someone?  Wasn't I happy when I finally managed to get my dad over to my house on Christmas Day? 

Well, I was happy but that's not the kind of happiness I'm talking about right now. I'm talking about the kind of happiness that makes life worth living every day--the little things I tend to take for granted but understand that if I didn't have them I wouldn't be a functioning human being. Looking up into the sky and seeing a line of white cutting across a bright blue sky then imagining myself in the co-pilot's seat. Walking into a Subway restaurant and smelling the freshly baked bread. Descending into the basement after the boys are asleep and cranking up Madonna and dancing like a madwoman. You know -- happiness.

I forgot about my happiness this December because I spent so much effort on trying to make other people happy. But it did sneak up on me -- that happiness feeling. It hit me hard, straight in the gut, and I was so grateful for the feeling. My sister had a great idea for a family gift. She created several copies of a mixed music CD made to look like an old 45 record. On it, she included all of the old songs that we used to listen to on our family road trips: Jolene by Dolly Parton, Delta Dawn by Tanya Tucker, Rock the Boat by The Hues Corporation...the list goes on and on. It was my childhood in 45 minutes or less. I immediately popped in the CDand couldn't stop smiling. Happiness. I didn't look for it -- it found me. I listened. I reminisced. I became complete.

In the future I would like to write about the happy things I see, hear, and experience in the world and I would like to share them with you. I would also like to hear some of the moments that have made you happy today, yesterday, or 50 years ago. Let me know if you see something that someone else does that gives you a warm tingly feeling inside. Let's share our experiences of how happiness has snuck up on us and see if we can find it or make it happen each and every day! I'll even get you started: Happiness is...

Comments

Happiness is everywhere! Some of my happiest moments include: playing with my daughter; seeing that the "wait is finally over and my hold is here" on the book or movie I've been waiting for; getting a text from my BFF; and the moment when everyone in the family is back home, safely, from school and work and we all are so excited to see each other that we all speak at once. Thank you for posting and thank you for asking!

Thank you for sharing your happiness. They all sound like more than enough to put a smile on the face and contentment in the heart!

Happiness is a 60 degree day after a few weeks of cold Colorado winter, dancing with preschoolers during Music and Movement, listening to babies laugh during Baby Bounce, and then finally getting to read Robopocalypse on my lunch break.