Happiness for 2009

I love the start of the new year, and usually love the fun of making "resolutions". However, this year seems different. Being pregnant means it's not the year to resolve to lose those lingering 20 lbs. We have already been working on a financial budget for the last two years that has kept us secure and stable, and is now finally a way of life for us, so check mark on that one too. As a mom, I finally have a daily schedule down for me and the little guy, which I am hoping the new baby will just slip into without too much disruption. Life is good overall: stable and steady. It feels like a good year just to resolve to continue to be happy with what we have, and look forward to the little things that bring great pleasure.

I am currently just finishing up Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I started it early in 2008, but got stuck in the middle section of the book. Last week I decided to just skip the middle section and finish reading the last part of the book. It has been wonderful! I have really been looking forward to getting into bed every night and reading (it also helps that dish network and our local ABC channel are having a dispute, so I am not able to watch all my favorite shows). I am so tired though that I can't read much at a time. Anyway, a few days ago I read this passage on happiness. It definitely sums up how I have always felt on the subject, and how I have tried to live my life. Every night since, I have had a dream about telling this passage to someone different, and people I haven't seen in quite a while. It has been great to not dream about having a preemie, but I also think my brain is telling me to share this already. So, I hope you enjoy as much as I did, and here's to a very happy 2009:

"...people tend to universally think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you're fortunate enough. But that's not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you achieve happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it. If you don't, you will leak away your innate contentment. It's easy enough to pray when your in distress but continuing to pray even when your crisis has passed is like a sealing process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainments."