Happiness Is...

I played Lucy in our 8th grade musical "You're a Good Many, Charlie Brown". It really was the perfect character for me...she's a take-charge kind of girl and that's me...plus she is hopelessly in love with Schroeder, following him around all day like a puppy dog. Reminds me of the days I used to stalk my husband;) {lol}

Anyhoo....{i didn't really stalk, Dave...we just happened to "run" into each other a lot-tee hee}...in the show I sang the song "Happiness Is..." 
What I loved best about singing that song was how, well happy it made me,  It's filled with the simple things that bring us joy...like 2 kinds of ice cream and a sharpened pencil.

My darling friend Leanne wrote all about what brings her happiness in her blog yesterday and is the inspiration for this post today.

When I was in college I remember thinking I was happy. Looking back now...I know I wasn't. Without going into all the gory details lots of bad things happened to me which I tried and tried to block out with alcohol. Oh, sure I'd be happy for a few hours but then wake up to reality {and a headache} then repeat the cycle all over again.

I was constantly chasing happiness.

If you Google happiness you get over 4.6 million results! Here are a few...

*Quotes

*Personal Growth classes

*Tips on how to be happy

*What is Happiness...the definition

There is even a place on the Web you can visit to get happy!! Happiness.com 

After trying to find happiness I came to the realization that happiness cannot be found in books or magazine articles. It cannot be found in food or clothes or cars or trips.

No.

Real, true happiness can only be found in our hearts.

Happiness is a state of being.

There are hundreds of reasons why I'm happy each day. And yes it can be because of food, my family, your blogs, a great book, the weather and dozens of other things.

It's when we can say to ourselves that we're happy without the influence of all the other stuff...that's when we know we're happy.

When we can just BE.




So many things add to the happiness of my day....these flowers on my dining room table.

My little marker board that sits in my kitchen. I fill it with greetings, quotes and our daily menu everyday!!

I love my craft space!!!

My sweetie, Gizmo:)

My darling Em and my Mom

My son and the Missionaries from our Church. They have such a sweet Spirit!!

And finally my husband. He is simply amazing and honestly I don't know if I ever would have loved myself enough to have found true happiness without his influence in my life.

I am blessed and I am happy.

So, what about you? What does happiness mean to you, girls? Please share!!

I am linked up today with Amanda....

Stop by Amanda's Blog today!!