I’m so
cold that when I complained that my metal hips were hurting, my sister started
calling me “Old Ironsides”
This week in our Sunday school class our teacher has an
option of asking, what makes you happy? I asked my husband and he said being
content that we are living Christ’s teachings and doing good in the world.
So—What makes you happy?
Happiness can be tricky. It is hard to define and harder to achieve.
Mary Pipher says “Neither genetics nor our external circumstances determine our
happiness. Rather happiness depends on how we deal with what we are given. We
develop the skills of building joy, gratitude, and meaning into every day. By
learning these lessons, we cultivate emotional resilience. We have the capacity
to build happiness into our lives with humor concern for others, and gratitude.
I think-- I love to create. After all we are God’s, The Great
Creator’s children. We are born in His image. We all have something we like to
create, be it a new dish for our families; a smile on our children’s faces; a
beautiful garden; or as another friend, a nurse, told me, working to restore
good health to one of her patients.
One day, after reading my cousin’s unhappy post on Facebook,
I texted my daughter, that something was wrong with me. I was generally happy
in a world filled with woe.
I learned today that I am in my second adulthood. I think
I’ve heard about people being in their second childhood and it didn’t seem to
be a compliment. What do you suppose second adulthood means? Maybe it just
means finding a better compass for happiness.
Reading the NY times last week, I learned that “Women of the
age 65 to 79 are the happiest demographic in America. Look at all the older
women who are running for office and heading up corporations.
I’ve just started
a new book by Mary Pipher called WOMEN
ROWING NORTH Navigating Life’s Currents and Flourishing As We Age. So
far, it’s an interesting read.
It begins with “I turned seventy this year. Women in their
sixties and early seventies are crossing a border and everything interesting
happens at borders.”
As spring, and a new month approach think about what makes
you happy and enjoy spending some time doing that thing. And then think about
what makes your neighbor, your family, your Savior, happy. Spend some quality time with them too.
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