Well I’m a bit late in writing this given a work emergency that forced me to take a trip. But better late than never.

I’ve been thinking more about happiness lately. Like my last post, it is on my mind. Why are some people so positive and some so negative. Yet both may be dealt the same exact card. Some people refuel, breathe the air in, and are so much more resilient. Why is that?

After a few hectic days of travel and a lot just going on right now between work and personal plans and moving soon (need to move due to our landlord moving back in), I decided I need to breathe and reboot a bit more. I just did a meditation through my phone as I sit on the plane and then took a nap. I need to slow down. I’m a bit too wired after having worked the last five days straight well into the evenings (had to work the weekend on a rare occasion). And after my meditation and nap, I started to just explore this thought more. I journaled, I wrote in my happiness project book and I just sat here for a bit.

Happiness does partially depend on external factors and circumstances, but the other half is all about your temperament and how you view those circumstances. I read a good quote the other day: “Happiness and misery depend as much on temperament as on fortune.”—La Rochefoucauld

And I also thought, the fun doesn’t come later. The fun is now. It is easy to believe if you arrive in a certain part of your journey or destination (what really is anyone’s destination until we die on a side note), you will be happy. However, that milestone or that achievement in life will never give you as much happiness as you think. That is because you have to find it during the destination. A certain act or time in your life won’t just give it to you. It may momentarily but then it fades just as quickly. A simple example is living for the weekends, verses living for each day.

“Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.”—Guillaume Appollinaire

And you probably say, enough about this happiness babble. What does this all mean? For me it is continuing to challenge myself to be present in the day, breathe, and soak up the moment because we are not waiting for something. This is it. And I am continually challenging myself to find ways to truly be resilient so I can focus on the good stuff.

This week is the anniversary of my mom’s death. Today is actually 22 years. A long time yet still so fresh in some ways. Like everyone else that deals with death, it is an odd mix of both. And every day I remember how lucky I am to get to wake up and live. A rare gift she gave me to appreciate life because hers was taken so unexpectedly. And I want to honor her this week. There was a saying on her wall in her bedroom that she hung right at the door so she could read as she exited each day. And it is the perfect way to end this blog post. Because happiness to me is all about finding time for joy and laughter in every day. No matter what. Even on the stressful days. The long work days. The exhausting moments. Because those can still be great days too….

“The most wasted day of all is one in which you have not laughed.”—anonymous (courtesy of Sally’s needlepoint framed bedroom door hanging)