"BE HAPPY"I read the following quote this morning and it has played in my mind all day.
"The reason people find it so hard to be happy is that they always see the past better than it was, the present worse than it is, and the future less resolved than it will be." - Marcel Pagnol
My mind translates this idea into "the grass is always greener....."
If I am dissatisfied with my present, it is often because I am comparing it to a past that looks better in my aging perceptions than it actually was. I can forget that my past contains the inability to cope with life, the total inability to live life on life's terms. I can also forget that the glorious past I sometimes pine for nearly killed me by reason of alcoholism.
As for the future, who the heck knows what it will hold? I have had so many experiences of the totally unexpected happening that I know I have no idea what lies in the future. However, once the future becomes the present, it is then clearly and precisely known and describable.
And the present? The more I remember the truth about the past, that it contained the good and the bad and the more I stay out of the unknown future, the happier I am today. My Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-anon programs teach me to live in the now, to keep my focus on where my feet are. When I stop comparing today to a faulty memory of the past and to a yet to be determined future, I can be satisfied.
Practicing being satisfied holds the greater possibility of experiencing happiness. I want to be happy. Desiring to be happy is a choice I make for myself and it is up to me to stay in the present, choose thoughts and actions that are conducive to happiness, and pray for the steadfastness of character to practice these things daily.
Dear bloggers, I hope you will BE HAPPY today!
Prayer Girl
(Photo credit: Winter Wonderland by Bojan Bencic)
