To be happy

Define what happiness means to you. That's not always an easy thing to define. It's amazing how people are so different, yet I feel we are so alike as well.  And as I have gotten older and as the years have flown by,  it comes down to one main purpose in life: To Be Happy.  All of us, at some point in our lives, simply stop and think about our lives. It could totally be a midlife crisis thing. Or a "holy shit I'm going to be 30" thing and what the hell am I doing with my life?  In one way or another, we all bug out at different times in our lives.  I think that's totally normal. It means we are coming to terms with certain "stuff" in our lives and that we have to re-evaluate things at some point.  I think it's important to do this because we are always evolving and changing. 

It has always amazed me because we all do this, but at different times.  Anytime I have had thoughts about my life and what I am doing and what I want to be doing and what's going to make me happy, at that moment in time, it feels as though NO ONE else is going through that.  No one else is thinking about that sort of thing.  But they are, friends.  They totally are.  We will just never really be aware of it in that moment. I think it's pretty cool that we all have to go through this.  It's a feeling that seems to shadow other things that we all visit at different stages in our lives; like getting our drivers license for the first time or studying our asses off for a very important test, and we pass with flying colors!  Or receiving that first legal beer.  Those are all exciting moments, but they all eventually fade away. The excitement came and went. Maybe not the studying for a test example, but we eventually stop doing that too.  Unless you're a doctor....you people are smart and probably always need to study or keep that 500 page book near by.  But what do I know?

FYI, in no way am I  JUST calling doctors smart.  There are many different people in this world who have many different professions who always need to keep reading and learning.  I get it. That's great.  Keep at it. :)

I say all of the above because I don't want you to think you're ever alone in re-evaluating your life.  It's important to go through it and make changes or adjustments in any part of your life that you feel needs an upgrade. If it's what will make you happy, what do you have to lose? Weight loss, a new job, becoming more organized, changing not who you are, but your attitude and how you go about life, changing the way you think about certain situations; those are just a few examples that I bring to the table. I personally have gone through all of those changes and have thought about all of them at different times in my life. You need to do what's best for you. You are the only one that can make things happen. Only you can change things in your life.  You can't worry about other people.  This is YOUR life.  Do you know how many years it took me to finally realize and accept that "motto" if you will?  25 years. Yep. Until I was 25 I always cared what the next guy thought. I never said the word NO. I worried constantly what others thought about me.  I'm just embarrassed that it took me this long to finally get it.

"IT" is not life.  Life is going to be life and I don't think any of us will ever actually "get life'.   It's messy, unfair and quirky.  We just make the best of it.  When I say "get it", it's really that I just accepted certain things that I could not change, and I changed the things that I felt needed changing. That's really it.  Other than that, when you really do stop and smell the coffee, life is wonderful.  It's a beautiful thing. We only get one life, and when our time comes to look at things differently, it can be a blessing. The coolest part is that that moment just comes to us.  No one is forcing us to make that change except us.  Sure, your parents can yell at you about something until they are blue in the face. But nothing will actually happen unless we do something about it.

So what does happiness mean to me?  It means not having the latest and greatest of everything. It means accepting certain things I cannot change.  It means fixing something or solving something that might suck at first, but the outcome turns out even better than I ever imagined it would. It means laughing, a lot. It means not sweating the small stuff even though sometimes life can be too much to handle and we can't help but cry over a stubbed toe. {those things hurt like a mother}! It means knowing who I truly am as a person and doing what is most comfortable for me. Everyone is different and just because one way of doing something works for Bobby and Sue, doesn't mean their way will work for you.  

Check out this article I found on fb. It makes a lot of sense.

Happiness to me is really just making the most out of what you have and realizing it's pretty great. You can always change things, but at the end of the day, you make it happen; no one else.

So...

 What does happiness mean to you? What kind of changes have you made in your life that you felt had to be upgraded for the better?  Do you have any great supporters in your life who have helped you along the way or made you realize something for the better? And to this day, you can't thank them enough?

Hope your Tuesday is happy!