Lisa Leonard is a jewelry designer and blogger who I've followed for a while. I don't know the details, but she has a son with severe disabilities. I've followed her blog not because I'm big into jewelry, but because of the grace with which she handles her life's challenges. Today she put up a link to an article she wrote a while back called What If? There are a lot of what ifs in all our lives, but in the article she said that she chooses to focus on what is instead of the what ifs of life.
I struggle with this. For a long time, I felt that if my living situation were different, I would be happy. Eventually I realized that if I couldn't be happy with what is, then there was no guarantee of being happy if outside situations were different. Our happiness has to come from within, without being dependent on other people or things to make us so. Not easy for a natural pessimist--but that's just another excuse.
The truth is, I'm extremely blessed. Sometimes I have to hear about those who have more challenges than me, and see how much more grateful they are, to appreciate that.
So--cheers to what is. To what we have, and not to what we don't. To how things are, not to how they could be.
"Happiness does not depend on what is outside of us, but on what is inside of us." Harold B. Lee
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite quotes lately, and such a good reminder that, in large part, I control my level of happiness. I especially have to remind myself of this lately as I have dealt with the loss of my grandma and the reappearance of my depression.