Make Your Own Happiness

I work with someone who is generally unhappy most of the time. She has a lot of drama in her life (much of which she did not cause herself). I'm a willing ear and I listen to her vent often. (She and our boss butt heads all the time). At her core, she's a kind and wonderful person but that's so difficult to see because of all the negativity that surrounds her. It got me to thinking about happiness and where it comes from.

Of course, the wise person knows that things do not make one happy. They can please you immensely for a time, but that's fleeting. It's what you do to create your happiness that lasts. Whether it's spending time with family or friends, sharing an event or creating memories. Those things will stay with you forever. I feel bad for her because she doesn't have a lot of happy memories. To hear her tell it, her childhood was just one disappointment after another. Her hubby is really wonderful and I believe she truly appreciates him and loves him. He's in profession that allows him to want for not (so, consequently, they live in a beautiful, Victorian home). They have a lot in common, visit the theater often and enjoy the same music but there are even things about her marriage that make her unhappy. She just accepts them (although, I really don't know what these things are...he's a man who does the things that men will do). She admittedly doesn't have a lot of friends and her family is not a family she would choose to hang out with, so it's basically she and her hubby.

I am so grateful for my faith and my ability to find my happiness. It can be quite small and even insignificant to some, but powerful and sustaining to me. There was a period in my life when I felt doom and gloom was the way to go, but you just can't function and be healthy in that state of mind. You get one life. One shot at living it. Why take a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" approach. Why not embrace the wonders that life gives us? It will be gone before we know it. I want to be able to say that I lived it with my full heart.

I believe that everyone is brought into our lives for a purpose. I hope that my ability to "make my own happiness" is something that she can glean from me. From her? I've learned that kindness comes in many packages, but you don't necessarily have to be happy to be kind. It's a happier, gentler and better world if you have both.