Weaving Happiness

​Little Carson was barely 2 years old, and was having far too much fun climbing out of his car seat. We tried to avoid spanking our children, however this situation seemed serious enough that I pulled the car over, swatted his behind, explained that we must be safe, and sat his smiling face back in his car seat.

Much to my frustration, within minutes he was back out like Braveheart on a freedom quest. Once again, I pulled over, swatted his behind, delivered the necessary speech, buckling him back into his now-tightened car seat…this time with a bit more sternness, in hopes he would understand the seriousness of the situation. His continued smile didn’t give me much hope. 
But before I could pat myself on the back, I looked in the rear-view mirror only to see that Houdini had outdone himself, and was again freely roaming the backseat. That was IT! I stormed out of the car, threw his door open and angrily swatted his bottom, once again. The lecture was louder, and the car seat was adjusted to “Defcon Straitjack”.
Just as I was beginning to wonder where my parenting manual was, my sweet Carson pulled me close and, with an unphased-smile, gave me a heart-melting hug exclaiming, “I love you!”, topping it off with a kiss.

My friends, happiness is a choice.
 
For many years, happiness was elusive to me. It seemed to depend on outward circumstances: were the people I loved happy with me? Did I look the right way? Was I accepted? Did I get what I wanted? When I wasn’t happy, the only way I knew to deal with that disappointment was by turning to food for distraction and maybe a little bit of sugar-induced sweetness.
I have come to learn that distractions do not equal happiness, and that true, internal happiness is not conditioned upon what happens to us, but rather what happens within us.
Jim Rohn shares that happiness is something we must weave. If we want to have a happy day we must weave it strand upon strand. If we want a happy career we will have to carefully weave that career with the fabric that happiness is made of. Happy marriages…happy families…happy hearts…are all products of carefully woven choices that can be learned. Just as we can learn the skills of financial success, so can we learn the skills of weaving a happy life.
For a born Eeyore like me, this idea was revolutionary! To realize that I could be happy just like little Carson…even when those I love are angry with my choices, cause me pain, or put a straitjacket on my freedom, I can choose to love, I can choose to be happy.
It’s time to stop looking outside of ourselves for sources of joy and peace. It’s time to start taking a look inside of our own hearts and minds, and make the daily choice to weave happiness. 

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