Reece Gardner: Finding happiness

How do you define happiness? The answers to that question are obviously many and varied. I know I was happy this past weekend to have my son, Reece, Jr., and his wife Lisa, visiting with me. Their presence brought joy and laughter to the entire weekend, and we didn't have to wait until later to recognize that . 

I can expand on that by quoting from an inspirational article written by Crystal Boyd. Here is some of what she said:

“We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are.  After that we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with.  We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage. 

“We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a new car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire. The truth is there is no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when?  Our lives will always be filled with challenges, but we can decide to be happy anyway.”

Alfred D. Souza highlighted that fact when he said this: "For a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin, but there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten first, some unfinished business, a debt to be paid, etc., then life would begin. 

“At last it dawned on me that these obstacles WERE my life."

There is really no way to happiness; happiness IS the way. Crystal offers these additional insights which I think can be of benefit to all of us: “So, let's treasure every moment that we have, and treasure it more because we shared it with someone special. 

“So let's stop waiting until we have kids, until our kids leave the house, until we start work, until we retire, until we get married, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until we get a nicer car or home, until our car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until we die, until we are born again. Happiness is a journey, not a destination, so let's enjoy the journey, one day at a time.”

Now to close on a humorous note: Billy Ray and Billy Bob flew to Canada on a hunting trip. They chartered a small plane to take them into the Rockies for a week of hunting moose. They managed to bag six. 

As they were loading the plane to return home, the pilot said the plane could only take four moose. The two guys objected strongly, saying "Last year we shot six, and that pilot let us take them all, and he had the same kind of plane as yours." 

Reluctantly, the pilot gave in, all six were loaded, and the plane took off. However, while attempting to cross some mountains — even on full power — the little plane couldn't handle the load, and went down. Somehow, surrounded by the moose bodies, only the two hunters survived the crash.

After climbing out of the wreckage, Billy Ray asked Billy Bob, "Any idea where we are?"

Billy Bob replied, "I think we're pretty close to where we crashed last year!"

Have a wonderful day.