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happiness

Surfin’ Bird

 

For reasons I’m still not sure of, Jacob and I watched PeeWee Herman sing Surfin’ Bird on YouTube this morning during our Timmy’s coffee stop. If you haven’t seen it (or don’t want to admit you have) – watch it here:

I think I was probably around Jacob’s age when I was listening to this ridiculously silly song the first time around. It may be crazy, but man did it ever make us laugh.

When we got in the car somehow it decided to play from my phone onto the car stereo and we were blasted with PeeWee all the way to school. We were laughing so hard by the time we got there we both had tears in our eyes.

When I picked the kids up from school the funny was still there. Jacob ended up laughing so hard he gave himself the hiccups which of course made Jenna and I laugh even harder.

Few things are as good for the soul as a really good belly laugh. I remember the comedian when we were at Just for Laughs years ago in Montreal telling us to always find the funny and I think we usually do. I’m fortunate that I live with two other souls who have the same warped sense of humour as I do. We have a good time in our little family – that is a gratitude filled happiness moment.

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Faith can move mountains 

Today I told my faith story to someone for the first time. It was so different to tell it from that perspective, I’ve thought of it privately as a story of faith for sometime, but I’ve never really shared it in that context before. Telling it as a journey of faith, instead of a time of trauma,  made me realize it’s time to tell it like that more. Time to tell how God came and healed my life at a time when I felt I was completely broken, shattered, left lying on the ground. I’m not broken anymore, and although I didn’t realize it until recently,  I don’t think I ever was. What I was was just really hurt and lost.

The last couple of years have consisted of a series of miracles for me, the only time the miracles stopped was when I ignored my faith, my intuition, the voice of God. This summer, after months of standing firmly in my faith, in my trust, in my love,  I stopped listening to that voice and found myself once again a hot mess. It was a good reminder that I always need that time to connect with my Source, I need to listen to that intuition (which for me is the voice of God), I need to honour how I function in my faith. If I don’t, I feel all out of sorts and it takes me a really long time to figure out what is wrong (because I’m not connected to my Source anymore and I can’t find my balance – when I can’t find my balance I’m screwed).

Telling my story today in the context of faith really helped remind me of how far I’ve come on my spiritual journey. I think I’ve always had faith on an abstract level, but when I fell to the floor in despair a few years ago – having tried to fix my life myself – and finally handed everything over to God, everything changed for me. Suddenly things that seemed impossible started happening all over the place in my life. Small miracles, big miracles, things were changing and I was filled with love and gratitude for all I was being blessed with.

In the past couple of months I’ve got my spiritual groove back and everything is falling into place again. In fact new, really big, cool, things are starting to take shape and I love that. What I do know for certain is that I have to keep myself focused on having faith in order for these things to keep on happening. Faith is what grounds me, what gives me wings, what shapes me, what drives me. Faith not only moves mountains, it brought me back home to mine.

Tonight I was out on my walk and I was thinking about God and dad and my faith journey. I had a memory of a moment a few days before dad’s death when my mom, dad, sister, and I were all sitting quietly in the sunroom. In those last days there was a real awareness that there were not going to be very more moments left for the original four to have time together. I sighed and said out loud to God that I really missed those times of my original family being together. I looked up and circling around the slough were four swans. Something about them made me think of our original four and it made me smile. It was a moment of happiness brought together by a day of deep introspection about what my faith is and how it has shaped my life.

Then of course, because I’m me, about 10 minutes further down the road – at the spot where it seems I am prone to these types of meltdowns – I had a full out yelling session at God. I wasn’t even aware that I had these issues pent up inside of me – and honestly when I was done I was pretty glad that I live in the middle of nowhere so no one else had to witness that. But, I have to say  that for me those moments of breakdown yelling at God are often the most healing and productive ones.

I often wonder what it’s like for those people who talk best to God on their knees, heads bent in prayer. I’ve never been able to pray when other people are around, and I don’t think I could even pray like I was taught we should. I just go out in a field and chatter away to God about everything and anything. I talk, I laugh, I cry, I yell, I ask, I give thanks, I do it all.  I think it comes from the hours spent in those same fields on the back of a horse – which was how I first found my spiritual connection – it seems to still be the most effective method for me.

What I am discovering is that even though I’ve got a whirlwind of things going on, even though there’s so much that is uncertain, even though I have no idea what tomorrow will bring, the fact that I’m learning to walk deep in my faith allows me to say it is well with my soul. 

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Happy paws

I had a very simple moment of happiness – which was quite welcome after so much emotional energy shifting these last few days. 

It was sunny and warm(ish) out so o grabbed my dotted dog and went for a walk along the ridge. I love that place, it clears my head and is filled with ghosts of memories past. She was the happiest dog in the world this afternoon. 

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A down day

Today we had one of those magical quiet days. We stayed in our pajamas for as long as possible and did the bare minimum required. Which was a good thing as I think the hamburger I ate at the horse show last night was not my friend. I thought as I ate it how I didn’t think I could stomach horse show food in my 40s like I could in my 20s but I had no idea… none at all… it was bad. 

So thank goodness it was a quiet day to chill. 

My happiness moment was watching Jenna play happily all day with her bff from school. I’m so glad that this is now home and that she’s establishing her tribe. 

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The healing process

I read a fantastic article this morning on healing – it described perfectly how I’ve been feeling, what I’ve been sorting out. I wrote yesterday about how tired I’ve been, today I remembered how I need to honour the healing process. Instead of beating myself up for not being where I want to be on my journey, I want to celebrate how incredibly far I have come.

The article was in Elephant Journal – they have been a fantastic source of information for me not only in my healing, but in my learning of how bring balance to my life. The article is called Living with CPTSD Following an Abusive Relationship – read it. Read it if you feel like you have been or are in one, read it if you want to better understand how things were and are for me. She manages to put words to my feelings in a way I never have been able to, it’s always been too painful and too difficult to really sit in that place. It made me realize that it’s ok that I still feel overwhelmed and tired. I’ve been through a lot, and I try very often to pretend that it never happened at all. Especially the really painful parts. As much as I need to celebrate the good, it seems I need to acknowledge the bad. Not forever, but right now it seems to be part of the letting go process.

Along with that pain is the acknowledgement, gratitude, relief, joy that we are home, we are safe, we are happy, and we are building a totally new life. That is happiness, not just in a moment, but for a lifetime.

home, our roots, our grounding place

The girl and I watched a bit of The Peanuts movie tonight. Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the gang are happiness that stands the test of time. It was a wonderful happiness moment sharing that with her.

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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. 

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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.

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House of rain

I have been in a really crappy mood the last couple of days. I don’t know why – nothing specific has happened, I just am not smiling. Sometimes things just get a little overwhelming and I think I maybe just need a few days of recharging – I’m not sure. I know I’ve been sitting in this huge energy shift the last few weeks, and while it’s full of good things it’s also new and tiring. So, I’m trying really hard to honour this feeling – knowing that it is something that is just passing through and not a permanent state.

This happiness journey has led me to understand that while I’m always seeking happiness, I’m not always happy. And that’s ok. All those other emotions are real too. I’m allowed to have them.

But, it does not mean that I don’t keep looking for a moment of happiness each and every day. In fact, I live a very blessed life and I have so much that I am grateful for that I can list off happiness bursts all the time. We are here, we are home, we have our tribe, I can see the mountains, I love our home, I have my friends around me,  I kissed a horse, I hang with Derek… it goes on.

My happiness moment today was picking the girl up from school today and listening to her chat away about how much fun she had with her friends at school.

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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.

 

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