The greatest happiness comes from what??

For many is comes from family, work, spirituality, service, hobbies, adventure, and the list goes on…..

How do you find what brings true joy and happiness….what is the path? 

There is no right or wrong answer and everyone’s path is different.  

The first step is to stop and think…..am I fulfilled? Am I happy?  Do I want to seek more?  If the answer is no, then you may have found what is truly making you happy, so stick with it!

If the answer is no or you are unclear…I would encourage you to seek work you feel is fulfilling, or examine your spirituality, find a service organization that you enjoy, take up  a new hobby, or plan and adventure! 

For me, I am constantly asking myself,

• “what brings me great joy?”
• “will doing this…(whatever it is) make me happy?”
• “am I capable of a greater contribution?” 
• “is there a greater purpose for me?”

These questions always leave my striving for greater contributions in work, family,  service, and in my spirituality.  They also make me pause and truly think about what brings me joy and happiness. 

This is the greatest gift, because in that pause, you realize that super simple things can bring great joy.  Many times we get caught up in wanting that promotion we have been working towards, or needing a larger home, our kids getting better grades, an expensive vacation, better car….etc.  Again…there is no wrong answer, so nothing is wrong with wanting these things, you just have to decide if these things will bring you happiness. 

If we pause and truly examine our daily life, there are hundreds of little things to be thankful for that bring joy, I call these things ‘everyday magic’….even it is just a simple, small glimmer, these things added together can create great happiness.  Nothing profound….Some of my everyday magic;  A warm cup of coffee, sitting by the fire, a hug from my kids, sitting at the dinner table together, music playing, clean laundry, my home, my bed, a warm bath, going hiking, praying, the mountains, fresh snow, talking to God, watching my kids do activities, camping, our puppy, the smell of pine trees, cuddles, mountain breezes, service projects, warm sunshine, iced tea, gardening, home projects, I could go on an on….

Unfortunately it is all too easy to focus on the hassles and irritation in life and see things as a burden….for example laundry, who enjoys laundry?  Probably very few people, but I LOVE clean clothes, I love the sense of accomplishment I feel as I am getting it done, and I feel tremendous pride in taking care of my family, doing the laundry is all part of that…..so it is all about perspective.  You can focus on the work, burden, and frustrations or you can focus on the everyday magic. 

All of these small, somewhat insignificant things added together can create an amazingly happy life….but we have to pause long enough to discover them. #everydaymagic 

Enjoy the pause,

Holly