What makes you happy? Have you discovered your happiness? Each of us has our own definition and desires for happiness. Money will buy instant, short-lived happiness. I love those  moments too, as fleeting as they are sometimes. In this column, I am speaking of the heartfelt joyful gratitude for all the small things in our lives, our friends, family, homes, and all the available abundance we see around us for our choosing. Many in this world are not given the treasure of choice. We overlook the fact that the everyday lives we lead are not made up of small insignificant pieces, but big, meaningful pieces.

  We all daydream and nothing is wrong with that; as long as you understand it for what it is … wishful thinking that is sometimes unattainable. So don’t spend all your time daydreaming. It should make you appreciate what you do have in your life. I am appreciative for a healthy life, good friends, loving children, a roof over my head and many choices for my life. I’m not perfect in separating what is a want and what is a need.  If you always have to choose a need over a want, how boring would that be? I learned what is worth having to save in other areas, letting go of some wants and needs in order to achieve my target want!

  Aim for the best in life, do your part to obtain that goal and you shall receive. If you do not, that goal was just plain unrealistic. The main reason I don’t whimper when I don’t receive what I want, is I firmly believe, if I tried and failed, it was a lesson I needed to learn.

  Please don’t wallow in self pity over what you never gained in life. That’ll only make things worse. If you are not happy with what life dealt you, whose fault is that? One guess. It was your choice to live in that valley. Everyone has bad things happen in their lives, it is how they handle the bad and the choices they make to overcome adversity that lead them to succeed.

  I made a decision not long ago to make my life easier. No one can make that happen except this writer. It is the small things in life that can make you happy and the small aggravations in life that can make you unhappy. Every time I get irritated over some small object that is making too much of a “bad” impression on my day, I change it. My new motto is, “Move it, Shake it up, or Get Rid of it!” I want to live simpler, enjoy what I have, and remove as many irritations as I can. (I am well aware that some irritations you can’t control.)

  One example is a time when I was shopping, not for sheets, when I found sheets on sale. Nice sheets. I chose to buy two sets of those nice sheets and get rid of the old ones at home. I cannot tell you what a luxury that was for me. Something I didn’t put much thought into, but the outcome was marvelous! My linen closet thanks me too and I receive joy just opening that closet and peering in. I know some of you have probably enjoyed standing and staring at a newly organized closet or cabinet. That is happiness.

  Now, what brings me happiness? My children, a roof over my head, friends, animals,  laughter, a shower (with rain or my shower head), music, a new haircut, writing, my car to take me places … on and on. You sit down one day and make your list, you need to know what truly makes you happy. Happiness is all around us; we must open our eyes and see, it is out there for the taking, go find it!