Eddie Murphy, when asked during an interview by Barbara Walters whether he was happy, said that he used to think that happiness was something you achieved. That now he realizes you don’t “achieve” happiness. It’s something that comes and goes, and comes and goes again, no matter who you are or what you’re doing.
I have to say I agree wholeheartedly. Things change. People change. Circumstances change. If we go through life expecting that every moment we will be happy we are going to be thoroughly disappointed.
Not that I’m saying we should go around expecting the worst to happen like a bunch of sad sacks either. I’m saying that we should accept that we won’t always be leaping for joy. In fact, there may be days where we’re just trying to make it through the next few hours, days or weeks.
And that’s okay.
And normal.
Where we can make a difference, though, is in being more conscientious in noticing the ordinary things. For instance, I’m writing this newsletter on a Saturday morning. Usually on weekends, I am woken up at 7 am or so by my enthusiastic three-year-old who stands at my side of the bed, right at my head, and yells “Sutton! Get out of the rack!” Who taught her that?
Now, while I think that’s kind of special in and of itself, this morning I woke up at 6 am, went downstairs and had coffee and read my book for three whole hours all by myself before the husband and child woke up. Oh joy! Oh bliss! This never happens and is very exciting for me.
Now, as I write this, my daughter and I are sitting on the couch. She’s watching Winnie-the-Pooh and I’m writing. We’re each involved in our own activity but we seem to be doing it together (okay, I am getting a play-by-play of what Pooh is up to).
My point is that these are the moments that should be noticed. There’s nothing extraordinary about them. In fact, they happen all the time. This is precisely why they don’t get noticed. They’re so ordinary we don’t appreciate them.
Maybe we should take these ordinary moments and notice how truly fabulous they are. Then we can deposit them into our memory banks and withdraw them later when we need them. We’ll also get better at noticing that stuff that is going right during those tough times.This is the stuff of life. Those ordinary miracles.
Happiness comes and goes but the ordinary miracles are here to stay…if you notice them.
Until the next chapter,
Lisa
