Monday, May 10, 2010

Dance Like No One's Watching

I have been feeling good. Actually feeling really good, until I tried to dig through and lift several boxes today in my garage. I was searching for a scrapbook for my daughter. I used to sell Creative Memories (scrapbooking supplies). After Harrison was born, I could not keep up with my CM customers or even scrapping my own books. That was 10 years ago. I have held on to ALL the materials and am now getting back into it...with Madison in tow. She loves it. She has a knack for it. (Shhh! Harrison does too.) Today, Madison graduated from her "Hello Kitty" kiddie album to a 12x12 scrapbook. If you have seen my garage, you know that my plight to find my CM materials was not an easy one. To the detriment of my right arm, I persevered, though. Thankfully, the swelling has gone down mostly. I guess I just needed the reminder that NO, I am not completely healed.

Still sore, I was determined to take Cooper for a walk, this evening. I was not going to let a little swelling get me down. (My remaining lymph nodes can get over it.) When I got back from my walk, I found a loose piece of paper lying amongst my scrapbooking materials. It is only page "one of two" and I have no way to easily reference its origin. Still, I wanted to share it on my blog. I am sure its title is familiar to to many of you. It is a perspective I share, now more than ever. It is funny to think that I printed it off of the Internet so long ago. Enjoy!

Dance Like No One's Watching

We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are. After that, we're frustrated that we have a teenager to deal with, we will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage.

We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire. The truth is there's no time to be happier than right now. If not now, when?

Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy now anyway. One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D. Souza.

He said, "For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life."

This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way, so, treasure every moment that you have. And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time...and remember that time waits for no one.

So stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you are off welfare, until the first or the fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you have had a drink, until you have sobered up, until you die, until you are born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy....Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

2 comments:

  1. I need to read this EVERYday!!! Thanks for sharing, we always need a reminder, huh? XOXOXO

    ReplyDelete
  2. Me too! Good stuff. Glad you are feeling better. Talk to you soon. Love, Shelley

    ReplyDelete