Happy Vernal Equinox! (even though it was yesterday... we forgot)
Happiness...
We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get
married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't
old enough and we'll be more content when they are. After that we're frustrated
that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they
are out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete
when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able
to go on a nice vacation, when we retire. The truth is, there's no better
time to be happy than right now. If not now, when? Your life will always
be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to yourself and decide
to be happy anyway. One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D
Souza. He said
"For a long time it had seemed to me that life was
about to begin--real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way,
something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be
served, or a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it
dawned on me that these obstacles were my life."
This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to
happiness. Happiness is the way. So, treasure every moment that you
have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special enough to
spend your time with... and remember that time waits for no one.
So... stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back
to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have
kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire,
until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday
morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off,
until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you are off welfare,
until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you've had a
drink, until you've sobered up, until you die, until you are born again to
decide that there is no better time than now to be happy. Happiness is a
journey, not a destination.
Of course, there's always the great Ann Landers quote-- "The
poor wish to be rich, the rich wish to be happy, the single wish to be married,
and the married wish to be dead."
hopelessly drift in the eyes of the ghost again
down on my knees and my hands in the air again pushing my face in the
memory of you again but I never know if it's real never know how I
wanted to feel never quite said what I wanted to say to you never
quite managed the words to explain to you never quite knew how to make
them believable and now the time has gone another time undone
hopelessly fighting the devil futility feeling the monster
climb deeper inside of me feeling him gnawing my heart away
hungrily i'll never lose this
pain