HAPPINESS IS OVERRATED!

You see it all the time - "I just want to be happy!"  I personally do not think that happiness is something to strive for.  Being happy is easy.  It is also very fleeting.

So many things can make us happy, but that feeling does not last very long.  It's all a part of the human condition.  

When I was younger and had to do the required reading in school, I would think how much happier I would be when I could read what I wanted.  Every kid thinks they will be so much happier when they graduate from high school, and then from college.  Then happiness will come when you get that first real job, and when you are out on your own.  Then, happiness will come with the right mate, and the first home, and then children.

Having kids starts a long string of "I'll be happy when..." moments.  The list includes the child eating "real" food, becoming potty-trained, starting school, fixing his/her own snack, helping around the house, driving, graduating high school and then college, and getting married.  But as a friend of mine informed me, when your child gets married, you still have plenty to worry about.

I don't know if everyone worries as much as I do.  As my mother would say, if she didn't have something to worry about, she would worry about that.  So maybe it's hereditary.  But it seems that life has been SO full of hurdles in recent years.  And with each hurdle, as I worry myself crazy, I think that if I can just get over that hurdle that life will be so much better.  And it is - very temporarily because there are always more hurdles, obstacles, and challenges.

I am not saying that being happy is a feeling that should be dismissed.  It should be treasured.  But no one can count on remaining happy.  If ignorance truly was bliss, you know I would be praying for ignorance!  Life happens. And with it comes a roller coaster of emotions.   And take my word for it, not even anti-depressants can keep you from feeling the wide range of emotions that life deals you.

My wish...my goal...is contentment.  I am trying not to focus on all the life dreams and goals to find happiness.  I want to shine a light on all of the reasons I should be content - I am married to my best friend; I have two great kids; I have a roof over my head and food to eat every day.  Maybe it's like counting your blessings.  But I want to start counting contentment.