The pursuit for 'Happiness!' x

What makes us happy? 

What are the things that create happiness…that make us high five, or smile, or leap out of bed in the morning…or say “Yes!!!!”....with a fist pump, or two?

I certainly know sadness through my journey of losing loved ones….and I know it’s that sadness has made me appreciate the little joys in life.  Nobody wants to 'choose' sad...it's more like 'sad' chooses you somedays....

It takes time, sometimes a  l o n g  time after a life altering event to change the way you look at things…to dissect what it is that makes you happy….to know…

And when you are in that place, that dark place, you. don't. ever. think. you'll. be. happy. again.... 

But shifting your focus, or trying to shift your focus from the bad bits that you can't change...to making a concious effort to see the good bits becomes easier as time marches forward...cos time doesn't wait for you...the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening, thats a given, yes, life goes on regardless....

And for me, I can’t pin point when I started to see the world differently, I just know one day, it was like I’d been cracked open like Humpty Dumpty and suddenly I started to notice things...that I hadn't before.  I guess it's called healing....and it is a gift that grief gives, the only good gift!

This past week, these are a few things that have fed my happiness tank.

Last week we went to Target, Peter told Dempsey she could choose something from the toy aisle.  I was quite proud that my girl didn't choose a Littlest Pet Shop...she chose this brilliant red ball! 

It is only a plastic ball, but it's red and bouncy and bright and I've loved watching the joy Dempsey has got out of this ball.  She's taken it everywhere with her.

My new friend Rose, who I wrote about in an earlier blog invited me to go walking at our park...and to meet her daughter and baby grand daughter.

I feel so privileged that she's sharing her family. The more time I spend with her the more I love this new friendship, it makes me happy.

And of course the big red ball came with us....

I never got to see our other daughter run, so watching Dempsey sprint up the hill at the park, breathless and giggly, ball in hand, enjoying the day and Rose made my heart swell....something that money can't buy....

Noticing the beauty of this Mama turtle and her baby that glided peacefully in towards us reminds me that life is forever evolving and changing.  Even in Mother Nature and the animal world, there's beauty and something to smile about...that life really is a miracle......




This little guy is Kirby...he's Dempsey's latest obsession.  She sleeps with him, eats with him and takes him everywhere...along with her red ball! :) 

And it's funny, but for 3 days last week she left him on our stairs when she went to school. 

Every time I walked past him, to go to the washing machine, or the loo, or to leave the house...there was Kirby, smiling at me! 

Now he is only a toy....but by the end of the day, his smiling face had rubbed off on me... he stopped me in my tracks.

It was like Demps had left him there to remind me to :-)

And while out shopping with Dempsey, I saw little red flags put in my path, waving at me, to remind me to be happy. 

At Petco, this Happy Hut caught my eye.  Oh how I would've loved a happy hut a few years ago to escape to! :)




Even my bloody new shoe's bag had a smiley face plastered all over it.... 

For me, without the contrast or that dividing line grief created...the before and after...the happy and the sad, I wouldn't know that the 'little things' can make you happy.

That finding things that give me a surge of energy, that feeling that you can do anything…like you’ve just slipped into a Superman suit…that feeling that you can fly, is empowering, and helps supress any sadness.

Yes, finding what makes you happy or looking for it builds up strength for when the bad bits hit...it helps me bounce back. 

A bit like Dempsey's big red ball....................

ps; I'd love to hear the 'little things' that've made you happy this week x

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