Sometimes, being happy is more a matter of learning to accept your situation and making the best of it.

Okay, so you aren’t rich…neither am I. I don’t have a college education, a fantabulous job, or even a house of my own. My car needs new tires…and I could do with some time on a beach somewhere surrounded by nothing but soft sand, blue sky, clear ocean water, and a cabana boy to see to my every need.

Lucky for me, my happiness is not dependant upon those things.

Case in point. Driving into the city to get my son from school in the afternoons means driving past the airport. As I drove past this afternoon, a plane was taking off. Okay, so it isn’t one of the great wonders of the world, but seeing one of those huge things leave the ground and blast off into the skies always makes me smile. For some odd reason, the sight of something that cumbersome actually making it into the air still amazes me.

My son has decided to try to get his driving license. Putting aside my deepest fears, I took him to the state police today to take his written test. When he didn’t immediately come back out of the testing room, I decided to wander in and investigate the delay. There he stood….at the desk…looking suddenly much more mature than his seventeen years. With a big smile and a thumbs-up, he let me know that he was now ready to begin road-training. Seeing him that happy and proud of the job that he’d done was all that I needed to be happy again.

On our way home, we cross the Arkansas River. I love this river. No matter how many times I cross it or how many hours I spend standing on the shore, it always brings a sense of peace. Even when things seem hard…it is there…strong, steady, reassuring. Today, the partly cloudy skies of the afternoon reflected and shadowed across a surface rippled with movement caused by the winds of a coming storm. Drawn by the beauty, we stopped on the end of the bridge and made our way down to the banks to enjoy the view for a few moments. Sure enough…happy again.

Sitting on the back porch and watching dragonflies….feeling the sun on my shoulders and the wind in my hair…singing along to my favourite cd in the car….all of these make me happy.

The thing is, none of these things actually costs anything. They are simple…and perhaps I am, too. But in spite of all that has happened and some things that I simply cannot figure out…this is one thing that I’m good at.

Finding Happy….yeah, I can do that.

arkmomy