Peaceful, Easy Feeling

Onward...

"Watch your thoughts, they become words.

Watch your words, they become actions.

Watch your actions, they become habits.

Watch your habits, they become character.

Watch your character, it becomes your destiny."

~anonymous 

As I ponder my own actions and feelings of late, it is apparent that I am really in a good place right now.  The daily stresses be damned...I have a beautiful family.  We are all in good health.  We have a roof over our head, (thankfully after the firemen came to put out the chimney fire before the house became fully engulfed last night).

So with all this realization that comes from not having your house burn down, I am beginning a peaceful journey forward as I prepare to let my baby fly.  Yes, it's that time when the last child prepares to go off to college and I, as the mother, look back and wonder where all the time went.  

It's had its ups and downs...however, it is abundantly clear that, the ups outweigh the downs by far.  My life is full! 

"I have found that most people are about as happy as they make up their mind to be!"

                               ~ Abraham Lincoln

When looking forward, it is important to draw on memories that have made you laugh.  Try to think back to the light hearted moments when nothing really mattered at the time...nothing, but that you were having a great time full of fun and laughter.  

An aha moment, like the one I had when I went to see the Steelers play the Oilers at Three Rivers Stadium for Monday Night Football with a friend...(aging myself again, as the Houston Oilers and Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh are both long gone)

There we were on the 50 yard line, just a few rows up having a great time when the TV camera came rolling by panning the crowd of die-hard Steeler fans.  Since I could not be seen on the 50 yard line, on national television, on Monday Night Football when I was supposed to be somewhere else, (like work) we ducked.  We put our heads way down, while the entire crowd that surrounded us was cheering and waving into the camera with Iron City draft beers in hand...now that was one of the funniest moments of my life!  And thankfully, one that recently came to mind prompting me to take the initiative and contact that old friend and have a great laugh all over again.

Yes, though I often tell my children, "Don't look back, you're not going that way"... that happens to be where the past lies.  Good and bad.  And the past is what has brought us to this point in life.  We are what our past has allowed us to become.

Draw on the good...learn from the bad and move on!  The good is where the laughs are and the laughter is where the fun is!  Having fun is the best part of living.

 "Don't take life too seriously.  

You'll never get out of it alive."

~ Elbert Hubbard