LITTLE GIFTS OF ‘HAPPINESS’

“It’s the simple and little things in life that bring happiness.”

I had someone once tell me they’d come to understand “God wasn’t ultimately concerned with our happiness”….. hmmmmm. Why were we given the ability to smile and erupt with laughter ~ to see, hear, read and experience things to give us wonderful moments of happiness?

“And Psalm 126:2 says, “Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.” In fact, God tells us to be happy more times in Scripture than any other command.”

This last weekend as I was driving through the mountains and began to see the incredibly beautiful signs of spring evolving, those words came back to me. Happiness was mine to accept at most every turn and over each hill as I saw buds opening, colors popping and what was just days ago withered and dried trees and bushes now coming to life again in lush greens with blue mountains as a backdrop. Although not anywhere near being in full awesomeness of color, I smiled and felt happy just seeing Mother Nature coming back into color. Surely if one believes in a Master Designer one must feel happiness in seeing His ongoing canvas as it’s carefully painted with each new season. Happiness.

“Laughter is the best medicine” 

Joy is embedded deep within, unmovable. Agreed, happiness is fleeting as our lives create circumstances and emotions to where at times we feel as though we’re riding a roller coaster, but what would our days be without sprinkles of happiness throughout? I think the God I know must certainly be happy Himself to know my heart is happy among the times of sadness which is inevitable in all lives.

Happiness is taking a drink of crystal clear pristine mountain water pouring from the side of a mountain or dipping a foot into a chilled mountain stream in the warm summer, feeling a crisp breeze blowing across a sweaty and heated body as one trudges a steep trail, seeing the smile on someone’s face as they caress the beautiful fur of my dogs, the childlike fun of splashing through a puddle of water, opening the door at dawn and being slapped in the face with pristine chilled air and being able to fully inhale and exhale it, a new pair of shoes on the feet, the excitement of seeing an incredible display of color as I round a corner on a mountain or as I view the vastness and beauty of a mountain range laid out before my eyes. Happiness.

Satisfying, refreshing, and enough ‘push’ to keep us going. Happiness is.

Happiness ~ a zillion forms it may take in our lives. A quick interspersed boost of fuel to keep us moving and hoping.

Happiness shines, relaxes, encourages, lifts one’s self and others, calms an environment, creates beauty. Happiness is found in the simple, in child-like discoveries, in imagining, in creating. Little happies are good.

Giving or receiving a smile, a basket of fresh fruit or vegetables, a cool breeze, a romp through an apple orchard, waking-up to rain pounding on the roof, strolling the empty sidewalk at night peering into the merchants’ gorgeous windows, a conversation or just a check-in with a friend, a new jar of local honey, doing something kind for another, cuddling in a big soft chair by the fireplace or swinging on the porch with the mountain air stirring, the sound of a generator cutting-on when the power inside has gone off, the smell of fireplaces burning in the cold months, walking in a chilled stream on the rocks, sitting on the bank of a river and doing absolutely nothing, the divine smell of a bar of locally made soap, the sight of a bright green pasture enveloped with blue mountains and fog, a pot of soup simmering on the stove. Chocolate. Eyes to see, ears to hear, legs to walk. Happiness.

A dear friend who recently had to let two of her long-time rescue fur kids go to the Rainbow, told me this week: “I told my husband all it takes to make me happy is a couple of dogs.”

I had to laugh as I agreed with the simplicity. Yes, they’ve already brought in another rescue fur baby to join the one they still have. The point ~ happiness.

Little, individual minute by minute happiness ~ ultimately make up a lifetime. What little things make you happy? Grab all you can and fill-up your bag.

From a mountain girl’s heart