Tag Archives: family

happiness

Recharge

I’ve been noticing lately how incredibly tired I am. It’s like the long, drawn out tired that has been sitting inside my soul for years as I’ve struggled to get to this place – safe, happy, home. Now that I don’t have to struggle anymore I’ve discovered how completely exhausted I am. Those burdens aren’t as heavy, but I haven’t bounced back to where I was before either. I’m in a recharge process and I have to remember that.

Today was spent reorganizing the house a little bit. The season has changed, it was dark when we left for school this morning, the winter gear needed to be brought out. I’m thankful that I have the time to focus on building the safest, happiest home I can for my family. I’m grateful that I can be reminded of how to use my energy and how to recharge myself so I have enough to give.

It was a quiet happiness moment as I pulled out the winter things and hung them on the walls. I decided that come November 1 this year I am putting Christmas all over the house. We will celebrate the love and joy in this family! Plus, I have these really cool Yoda lights and I can’t wait to hang them.

Standard
happiness

A Wrinkle in Time

Tonight Jenna and I cuddled up on the couch and started reading A Wrinkle in Time together. It was one of my favourite books when I was about her age and I am pretty excited to be able to share that story with her now. 

My time spent reading to my niece over the weekend was a good reminder that I should also be enjoying that kind of time with Jenna more often. I’m so thankful that I have the time to do that and that she wants to participate. 

Opening the book and beginning Meg’s story with my girl – happiness moment shared together. 

Standard
happiness

Reading together 

Something very interesting happened tonight as I was reading a bedtime story to my 5 year old niece. 

My two older, too cool children snuggled up on either side of us and listened to the stories as well. Not only did they listen, but they really enjoyed it. 

It reminded me that no matter how big they get, they’re still kids and those quiet moments are important and precious. 

It was not only a moment of shared happiness but one of shared love as well. 

Standard
happiness

Sharing your happiness

Life-is-about-Happiness.jpg

I’ve been on this happiness quest for sometime now. It amazes me to think how far I’ve come since I started from the broken mess I was a few years ago. Yet, there is so far yet to go – it will be a lifelong journey for sure.

I had a happiness fact driven home today for me. I’ve realized that my happiness cup is now full enough that I need to make a real, conscious effort to share the happiness instead of merely seek it. I’ve realized that happiness is done best when it is shared with others.

There’s this guy in Cochrane who in my opinion has one of the worst jobs I could imagine. The worst for me that is, not that it’s a terrible job. He’s one of those guys who stands on the street with a sign for a shop nearby and waves at potential customers. I’ve seen these guys (and gals) all over the place and they always look pretty miserable, bored, unhappy, lonely… just like how I would be if I were doing that job.

But this guy – the guy who carries the sign for Little Caesars in town – he has a blast doing his job. He puts in his earbuds and dances his entire shift. He waves his sign around, smiles, laughs, waves at drivers and pedestrians and genuinely seems to enjoy what he’s doing. And it’s infectious – I read about him on the local Facebook pages – other drivers are cheered up by his happiness dance as well.

Today we were driving by and he walked in front of the car at the light. He stopped mid cross and busted a little move, turned and gave Jenna and I a huge smile, then walked the rest of the way across. We both had huge grins on our faces as we drove away. It’s amazing how easy it is to share happiness when you are doing something you love.

It was a great happiness moment because not only did I find joy in it, but I realized how important it is to keep sharing that joy with others.

 

Standard
happiness

The sunshine is back

The sunshine has come back into my life both literally and figuratively today. I was pretty happy to wake up and be able to see my mountains this morning, even happier to realize that I wasn’t having that funky feeling I’ve been carrying around the past couple of days.

I guess that’s the nice thing about being bummed out for no real reason, it’s easy to bounce back. I think I’m realizing how tired I got from all the stress of the summer, all the stress of the year… there just has been a lot and I haven’t always honoured how much it has exhausted me.

But, today was sun and smiles again which feels so much better. It started on the way into town – we drove past a family of swans. They always make me think of Dad which is bittersweet. My first thought was how excited he would be to see them, the second one was oh yeah… he’s not here anymore. But then I stopped anyway and shared the moment with him, with the kids, with God. It was a good moment.

from my iphone – I was pretty close to them. 


I got some really positive news from  a cousin who has been dealing with some pretty serious health issues and that was fantastic. It was a moment to celebrate and remember how important this tribe is, how we need to love and support each other all the time, unconditionally, in good times and bad.

And I did my healing light yoga today – that is always a happiness moment no matter what. I love how it puts me into balance, aligns me back with my Source, brings me to peace, and restores my strength. It’s pretty powerful stuff.

So, tonight I go to bed happy. I had several happiness moments today, but best of all I was just feeling the happy all day long. That’s what this is about – having more sunshine than cloudy days. But honouring the storms too – they are what gives the rainbows.

Standard
happiness

The wonky toe

Jenna was born with a wonky toe. I remember it stood out because I did the quick check over on her as soon as I held her and asked the doctor right away. She said it was just how God had made her and that she was fine. And she is – that toe does not give her any issues at all.

Until this morning when she woke up in intense pain. I took her into the Urgent Care in Cochrane and they checked her out right away. I’m so thankful we have that place to go to – the care is excellent and it’s usually not that busy. Plus, there’s often some neighbour sitting in the waiting room who we can catch up with – today being no different.

They checked her out and said toe seems to have been sprained or strained or something but isn’t broken. That makes me happy. But, when I have to go seek medical treatment I always have a moment of gratitude and happiness that I’m back home in Alberta. I just have to show my health card and we are looked after. There’s no worry about getting a huge bill in a few weeks, or wondering if I’ll be able to afford treatment. I’m happy and thankful every day that we are back home – but a little bit more on days like this one.

 

Standard
happiness

No limits, no fears

I’ve been having an ongoing happiness moment for the past few weeks. A couple of months ago I started having rumblings inside my soul that big changes were about to happen yet again. I wasn’t happy about this, as the changes I’ve had in the past couple of years have all been difficult and drastic – but I’ve also learned that there isn’t much I can do to stop a life change once it starts happening – I can either embrace or resist it.

In the subtle way that God has of making His point, I have been made aware of the fact that for years now I have been expecting and settling for far too little from myself and from my life. This fact was driven home a while ago (by someone whom I had loved and trusted) informing me that I was not good enough, not attractive enough for them to want to be with me any longer.

It left me with a WTF moment. Instead of the crushed feeling I was expecting, I felt this screaming from inside saying wait…. you think I’m not good enough for you??

I have been told by a significant man in my life for years that I wasn’t the perfect image he wanted standing by his side. If I’d gain weight, the roll would be grabbed and made fun of, if I said the wrong thing I was reminded of it for ages afterwards, if I wore an outfit that he didn’t like I was told very blatantly that it wasn’t something that looked good on me. It crushed me hearing that year after year, knowing that there was nothing I could ever do to change myself enough to make him like me – let alone respect me. And obviously I didn’t either like or respect myself then either.

It sent me into a life crisis so I stopped my world and settled into figuring out who I am, how I feel about myself, and what I want from life. This will be a lifelong process, but I know I’ve been walking that path for long enough that now at least it is familiar to me.

So, when I was told once again that I was not good enough instead of believing it, as I would have in my 30s, I gave thanks that I’m in my fuck-you-forties and have been able to spend some time analyzing how I feel about those words instead of hurting over why he didn’t want me. Because who cares why he didn’t want me, that is his issue, mine is to figure out why I was with a man who didn’t respect me (again). What was wrong with me that I allowed for relationships like that?

What it has left me with is the realization that now is the time to start expecting more from my life. I’m done settling, I’m done with not pushing myself to find out how far the gifts that God gave me can take me. It’s already had me pushing at some of what I thought were my limits – I’ve found that I’ve been able to walk through walls I had built up with very little resistance.

I’m in a phase of my life that is filled with no limits and no fears. Or at the very least, the fears I feel are no longer going to stop me from pursuing my dreams, from sharing my gifts.

If it sounds like I’m bitter, I’m not. I’m actually deeply and profoundly happy. I have healed in the past year to the point where I not only feel like I’m not broken, but am understanding that maybe I was never broken.  Maybe, just maybe, I’m exactly where I need to be and I’ve had those experiences so that I could learn exactly what I was supposed to learn.

I have fears, but I have a stronger faith. God has been walking so closely with me these past few years as I’ve been sorting things out. It’s time for me to embrace the faith so I can let go of the fear.

403332_307018702673151_292650737443281_821248_456858472_n.jpg

Standard
happiness

The Family United

We had our family thanksgiving meal tonight. I think my Thanksgiving curse has finally been lifted as this was the best Thanksgiving I have had in years.

During our prayer my uncle gave thanks for us being a family united – both together and in God. There were several moments tonight where I looked around the table and was filled with gratitude for the people sitting there. This tribe is so unique, so powerful, so loving. I don’t know how it is I ended up being part of it, but I thank God for that every second of every day. It was such a blessing to sit with people who all know each other so well. We are aware that we aren’t perfect, that we are full of flaws, but that we are also full of love and that love always wins. True, unconditional love. A perfect happiness moment.

I sat beside the other lefty – my giggle partner. One of my other cousins said one of our trigger words from The Frantics and we melted down in uncontrollable laughter. Of course, no one else understood what we were laughing about and we couldn’t even stop to breathe forget explain. I was crying, her stomach was hurting – and we kept laughing. All it took was one look at each other at the mention of that word and we lost it. We pretty much have our own secret giggle language which guarantees that we have fun at any get together. That is laughter and happiness.

We had a visitor come to the window right before we ate. It gave a perfect evening an even better Thanksgiving feel.

 

I have so much to be grateful for – we are surrounded by this amazing tribe of strong, loving people and I would not want it any other way. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Standard