[Image: Calvin and Hobbes] Hind sight is 20 – 20 but prescience is foggy at best.
God is in everything… Dolly Parton
She says this a lot. I have heard her. She merely blurts it out in the midst of conversation with an interviewer. She is a very upbeat and happy person.
How does one develop that attitude? Is it innate? Is it learned? Is it contagious? Happiness is contagious. Do something helpful and good for another and it stays with you for a long time. Is this why the ultra rich start a foundation to give their money away?
I have noticed that this seems to make some people of lesser means jealous. They may not be but it seems that some of the most vicious attacks on some ultra rich guy giving away his money in a fashion he so chooses cannot be explained any other way.
So how did Dolly become a happy person? She is satisfied with her life and comfortable in her own skin. She needs no more than that which she has.
Is everyone able to do this? I would make the case that they are able regardless of income level. Look inside yourself.
Me. What makes me happy?
Many things make me happy. Anything that is not stressful. I made a list.
Happy
- Love
- Trust
- Esteem of self
- Esteem of others
- Caring for Cheryl
- Seeing Cheryl happy
- Seeing Cheryl untroubled
- Riding my bike
- Listening to audio books while riding
- fresh air and sunshine
- Empty thoughts while riding
- waving to like minded people
- conversing with other riders
- Mindfulness, emptying the mind to feel the world
- Routine and order
- Reading – both novels and non-fiction
- Understanding how physical things work
Stressful
- Remembering everything to do
- Remembering meds as Cheryl forgets
- My sister-in-law who is able point out flaws in my viewpoint
- Social media politics
- HOA issues – I am president of the HOA
- HOA maintenance stuff
- Seeing Cheryl troubled about ability leaking away
- Seeing Cheryl confused about simple things
I am gladdened to discover that my happy list is much longer than my stressful list. I am emboldened to note that I have little control over the stressful list. I am excited to realize I can limit exposure to the stressful items.
It is easy to go through life looking backwards with regret. Or looking backwards and wishing for the old days. Time only moves forward. The future is impossible to perceive. Man plans and God laughs. Plan for every contingency and then buy insurance.
Platitudes. Life is full of platitudes.
Carpe diem!
Adjunct_Wizard 