Some days are just great….other days stink. Some people embrace you….while others abuse you. One job can be better than another…..you may drive the car you love into the ground….you may live in that old house till the day you die because you want to. All of these things not only affect your life, but they affect the amount of happiness you sustain. Eventually, Happiness becomes our own responsibility.

We go through the days putting forth as much positive energy as we possibly can, hoping that all things come out according to plan…..but, as we well know, things don’t always go according to plan. The car can break down, the screen door can get a hole in it, and some people around us can be just plain nasty, etc. It can become almost downright impossible to keep the smile on your face. Once again, where does the responsibility of your Happiness eventually end up, but in your own hands? For everything out there that gives us joy, there is a corresponding element that can cause us pain. The trick is to keep as many of the things that give you joy in life and eliminate that which causes the pain.

In a world that rarely recognizes the good in people, we have to look extra hard at others, and inside ourselves, to find it sometimes. When it rains, you can recognize that the rain is falling beyond your control, but that rain can be good. The sun can cause skin problems….but it can also make you feel suntanned and healthy at the same time. It all depends on how you manage the situation. The perception falls to us. Isn’t it amazing that if you sit in a room of five people, when a paragraph is read, the five each see a different point of view?

Life is short….bad things do happen to good people….it’s easy to believe that all isn’t fair, but we can persevere….squeeze every ounce of joy out of the moment. It is there. We just have to learn how to taste it, savor it, embrace it and go on. The Pursuit of Happiness is an honorable quest. Out there is the fruit of Heaven….it is up to us to climb the tree and reach for it……

Stretch,
Jennifer Avalon
© 2000 Jennifer Avalon