HAPPY IS WHAT WE MAKE IT

HAPPY IS WHAT WE MAKE IT, Always has been and always will be.

Today I hung my new sign on the wall across from the couch where I sit on the laptop.
I was walking along browsing on what to buy with the last of my birthday gift cards & this sign jumped out at me. It did not scare me but made me smile. All weekend Mark & I have discussed that we make life harder than it needs to be. This discussion lead us home to our own Ward as we know we should be. During Sacrament meeting Mark turned and smiled & said "this feels like coming home". I agreed that when we do what we believe if right then our soul is at rest.

I decided that when we wait to ask the Lord for help, his blessings are left unused by us. I do believe the Lord blesses us everyday but if we have a specific need He may wait for our bowed head & bended knee. I needed rest for my soul and the answers to my prayers were so clear. My fear of the doctors' appointments this month is gone. I am at peace that I can be happy with the struggles that come. I pray for good health but will live the way the Lord wants me to. And obviously as long as He chooses as only Heavenly Father controls life & death.

But even more than that - we are taught that "man is that he may have joy" Joy is even more than happiness. I believe in this life we are meant to have struggles and learn to find happiness in spite of the struggles. Once we learn "happy is what we make it" then we find true joy in our lives.

I am happier serving others, going to church, singing badly (ok, I would rather sing good but I find happiness in singing badly too). I have tried to make life fit into the "happy box" that I had decided on. Happy is not about money, a high paying job, eating out, wearing great clothes, or entertaining oneself. It is not even a sailboat. Happiness is sharing love, laughing over stupid things said, smiling at a newborn, awaiting my 9th grandchild. Happiness to me is awaiting visits from my children & grandchildren for the upcoming holidays, holding hands with my love of 37 yrs, seeing friends & families, helping others & being able to turn to our friends & special family members on those dreary days of life and then call them to share that funny joke or good news.

I know many people with more "things" than I have & less happiness and I know people with less than I have but are able to find joy. I will look at my sign every morning and every night - and try to remember that I can let money, health issues, my children living a distance away from me make me unhappy or I can make myself happy that I have a home with my loving husband, I live another day, and I have beautiful children who make me proud & made me a grandmother of almost 9 funny, loving grandchildren (and they are all grand). I choose to make "happy" my new mantra until that final JOY occurs and I go home to my Father in Heaven and see my Mom's beautiful face again.

So BEWARE - there is a smile breaking out on my face :)