Successful at being Happy

I was standing in line at the store earlier this week, going over the list of things I had to do while I was out of the house. My mind was mostly on the task at hand, but I overheard some ladies behind me talking about a female they knew ( I’m not sure of the relation to these ladies… ) and how she had ‘finally found happiness!’

Usually I would be happy for whoever they were talking about, after all, someone being happy makes me happy! But this time, I was thinking about the statement one of the ladies said, the female they spoke of ‘finally found happiness’….this was odd to me.

“FINDING HAPPINESS” – the statement struck me as odd because in order to find happiness, it had to have been lost first. How did her happiness become lost? Often we think our happiness is lost after losing something or someone we cared for or loved deeply. But can our happiness be misplaced and not lost?

One of the most frequent topics of self-help books, other than weight loss is success/happiness. I wondered about the two topics being  mutually exclusive. We often hear about successful people not being happy, but how about happy people? Can they be happy without being successful? We often thing about success as being equated to finances and money.

” Success is not the key to Happiness. Happiness is the key to Success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. ” -Albert Schweitzer This is more often true than not. Sitting in my Grandma Hart’s kitchen, I would hear story after story (often more than once) about my mother, her sisters and brothers, and how they would have fun doing this or that when they were children. My mother was one of 11 children, born in the 40’s. There was not a lot of money to go around for that many children, as they children became of age, they would work to bring money home, or joined one of the branches of the military to allow them to take care of their self.

Would I consider them successful? Maybe not financially, no one in my family has retired at 40 an moved to a tropical island. But as a family and as friends to each other, they are immensely successful. And as for happiness, they have happiness by the bucketful. I have myself been through times when I was unhappy, and thought (incorrectly) that ‘If I had ‘A’ or got to go to ‘B’ or bought ‘C’, I’d be much happier. This had a quick moment or two of happiness, but then the problem itself was still there and the unhappiness would return. Kind of like eating a glazed donut, the sugar rush makes you feel good for a little while, but then when it’s gone, your still hungry and back to feeling down.

Once I found my happiness (and this was before I met my wonderful husband, Brett) success was not far behind. It was not a monetary success, but I was a successful friend, daughter, mother and sister. I was a better person when I was happy. And I found my happiness…in myself. Happiness is not found in a store, in a person, a place or a job. You must find happiness within your soul, within your person, within your circle. This is when you will find your success!!

I hope you find your happiness and then find your success! I know this will bring a smile to my heart and my happiness will grow with your happiness!!