Day 21 – On Happiness

“Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product.”
Eleanor Roosevelt

My ongoing quest for summer wonderfulness is really the universal quest we all have for happiness. I’ve found a big part of that is recognizing my own happiness when it is basically sitting in my lap, and taking that milisecond to pause and say, “wow, I am really happy,” without worrying about the other shoe dropping or whatever potential crisis is right around the corner.

I read a great book on this topic a few years ago: The Happiness Project (which I requested from the library to reread). The author, Gretchen Rubin,  has a new book out, Happier at Home that I’m looking forward to reading. If you go to the happiness project website (link at logo above), you can even start a project in your community — I think it’s more introspective work than group work, but it would make a good book for a book club (hint hint to my 2 book clubs).

My happy moment for the day: Jake, “I like how you repurposed the KFC box mom. It’s for compost, right.” I think it was only a little sarcastic, and I’m putting it in my happy column — he has definitely learned from his mom that you don’t throw everything away. Even if my KFC compost bucket serves its purpose for only a week (it’s lined with a plastic bag, so it won’t totally dissolve), then it will be more degraded and it has more usefulness. Jake is also filling my bucket (another inspirational book for children) by finally writing thank you notes for his many graduation gifts. Friends, look for them in your mailboxes any time now! I hope all of my reader friends can think of at least one happy moment from today!
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