Happiness

The happiest heart that ever beat was in some quiet breast that found the common daylight sweet, and left to Heaven the rest.
John Vance Cheney

Gratitude is so important. We take so much for granted in our lives. As the song goes "You don't know what you've got till it's gone". We tend to define what we want as those things that aren't already in our lives. We focus on what we are lacking. We often don't even pay any attention to many of the blessings in our lives. On Thanksgiving, many of us bake a huge turkey dinner for our extended family as just a ritual we go through, never really appreciating just how lucky we are to be able to do that. We don't realize what a blessing it is to not be hungry every day.

How often do we stop and think about how lucky we are to be living in our own home, or even our own apartment (and one that is clean and well-built at that)? How often do we stop and appreciate the freedom to attend the church of our choosing without having to worry about bombs etc? Part of the problem is that most of us have no idea how the rest of the world lives. We don't know how lucky we are compared to others. We think everyone lives the way we do.

Even to breathe easily is a blessing. So is the ability to the ability to walk, or just to get outside in the sunshine. Just to be alive and well is a blessing, but how many of us truly appreciate that?

To appreciate all the blessings that surround even the poorest of us, is the key to happiness. If we can understand just how sweet the common daylight is (how much of a blessing it is), and expect (learn to trust)the Universe to keep bringing us more wonderful things, we will find true joy, and that is the key to real success.

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