When was the last time you felt truly happy? Like actually completely content? Tough one init? It’s shocking isn’t it when you look back over the last few days, weeks or years and see that those moments are a lot harder to identify then if I said, ‘when was the last time someone made you swear?’ (Me; about 40 minutes ago. Sunday night bath time!)
So that’s what I wanted to tell you about this week.
Bliss.
Now we all have our secret hopes, wishes and dreams. Some of us are working hard to bring those dreams to reality. Some, unfortunately, haven’t yet learned that anything is possible. (Big silver rocket propelled tin cans flying through the air peeps!🛫)
You may have your vision board, daily mantras and goal lists of all the things you want. But when you break those dreams and lists down, what we are all really searching for, is happiness.
You want a big house? Why? Because it will make you feel content being at home in beautiful surroundings.
Amazing car? Why? For me, well, I’m a speed freak. I love driving and I like to floor it. The thrill makes me happy.
But what we often don’t see, while we are looking at those big goals, is the tiny steps it takes to get there. We think in leaps and bounds, but it doesn’t work that way.
Success, like happiness, needs to be a regular choice. You have to choose to overlook the hiccups and frustrating times and focus solely on the good.
And do you know what prompted this blog? Being caught in the cold icy rain that is currently belting it down here in Liverpool.
A few nights ago I had forgotten to pick up bread for my kids packed lunch. So I had to go the supermarket after the little’uns went to bed. It isn’t far so I bundled myself up in my big winter waterproof coat (Blessing number 1) and pulled on my awesome fur lined Caterpillar boots (Blessing number 2) and as I traipsed down the road in the blistering cold, do you know what I saw?
That the rain was absolutely beautiful.
Yes it was colder then a penguin’s bum, but to see the shimmer as it drifted passed the street lights was just sooo beautiful.
When I walked across the car park a cars headlights lit up a patch of the road and it brought a smile to my face watching the rain dance across the puddles. It made me feel like a care free kid again. Splashing in the rain just for the sheer fun of it.
And when I got home I made the most delicious cup of Mocha. All rich and warm and silky smooth. The hint of coffee blending so perfectly with the rich hot chocolate. (Blessing number 3)
And I curled up in my beautiful new livingroom (blessing no 4) and just melted into the cushions, still chilled from the winters walk but content as the warmth from the cup caressed my cold fingers and the rain gently tap danced across the frosted window.
Bliss.
Pure, unfiltered, bliss.
But that was my choice. To see a cold winters walk as an opportunity to explore the world around me in a different light.
Obviously my initial thought was aggghhh I’ve got to go out in that. And it’s cold and dark and I don’t want to move. Imagine my walk if I had chosen to stay in that frame of mind? Chose not to make it an adventure. I would have kept my head down to avoid the cold. I would have bitched and moaned about the cold and wet all the way there and all the way back and I would have been in a foul mood when I got back.
I wouldn’t have looked up in to the wind and saw how the street lights made the rain shimmer.
Or I would have moaned about muddy boots as I stomped across the car park oblivious to the little water party in every puddle.
I would have missed all the little gifts along the way.
All life’s little pleasure, free for us to enjoy.
So on these dark, cold, winters’ nights; as we wait for spring to return,
Look for your own bliss.
Find happiness wherever and whenever you can.
Laugh, smile, shiver in the cold and enjoy the warmth as you return home.
All blessings. All a form of bliss.
All within your grasp, my friend.
All there for you to enjoy.
Happiness is a choice.
Always.
❤
