Monday, May 17, 2010

life is not a snapshot

Is this just human nature? When something happens in life that knocks you out of the routine complacency... you always feel like you are going to remember it and to be grateful for the good things, happy for the moment, happy for the blessings and try not to get complacent again, right? Or is this something only I do? I forget this feeling of gratitude. I get frustrated. I lose focus. I forget to remember that this is all fleeting....

J's brother and sister-in-law lost their unborn baby (whom they named "James") this weekend and have had to undergo an incredibly difficult and what I can only imagine as a horribly painful experience. I stand back and feel so saddened by this time that they are going through and remember a time when I also lost a baby too early. It was an incredibly difficult time, but one that many people have experienced: a first trimester miscarriage. I have a few friends who have experienced the torture of losing babies late in pregnancy and can only imagine that kind of loss. I can only imagine if you have had this experience, it changes you. You probably don't forget to feel gratitude for the health of your children.

I have experienced loss. Big and small. I really should have my act together....being grateful for each day I am given. I'm gonna be working on that and will let you know.

This reminds me of a great book I just read called The Happiness Project. The author is a writer who took a year out of her life to pursue this "project". The theory being that she (and all of us) could take steps each day, each month, to become a little "happier". That we each have a happiness barometer, some of us look at things a bit more positively or negatively than others naturally (the glass half-full/empty idea) but that we could all use to reach the top end of our natural happiness predisposition. Her ideas were pretty simple; from clearing out the clutter to improve energy, to loving more. But, the point being that we each have our own personal issues and to be proactive in setting resolutions that might help us attain a more peaceful and, dare I say, happy attitude. Talking about this book is a few blog posts in itself. I'll get to that more later. She also has a blog: http://www.happiness-project.com/

I heard this song on the radio today. I have heard it before and probably you have too. It's not typically my style, but it sinks in every time I hear it. Possibly...let it sit with you today too.

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