What makes you smile?

This blog is going to be a bit free form. I was drinking out of my favorite coffee mug today, and a grin crossed my face. Something as simple as a mug that feels good in my hand, holds a massive amount of coffee, and is visually appealing to me, made my face make the massive effort of tipping up the corners of my mouth.

Why is that a big deal? Well, for a lot of reasons. But the main one that got me thinking on it was the twelve hour work shift I pulled yesterday. We had a kid walk off the job without notice and because my store runs so close to the wire with employees, it set off a shit storm that is going to take a good week to dig out of. Oh, by the way kid, fuck you.

Yet here I am this morning, getting ready to head back to the evil day job, and I'm smiling. Everyone has different definitions of happiness and lofty goals they aspire to where they think happiness grows like weeds. As I'm getting...ahem...more mature...I'm realizing there's no one place for a person where happiness lives. There's no grand accomplishment that is going to have a smile permafixed on your face.

So it's moments like the one I'm having right now that mean the world. A mug from the dollar tree made me smile today. Sometimes a cute sticker placed in my planner gives me a giggle. A good book that makes me laugh out loud can make my day brighter. That's my happiness. 

Daily struggles, and difficult meetings (like the one I'm going to have to go to tomorrow) have weighed me down so much in recent years that I forgot to keep my eyes open for the joy. 

I'm keeping a gratitude space open in my planner now. For the last 9 weeks, I've written just a fragment of a sentence of something I'm grateful for. Even if I've had a bad day, there's always something good buried inside it. This morning, I woke up an hour before my alarm. Damn cat. But although I could look at it as something bad, I realized, luxuriating in the A/C and snuggling under a blanket was so nice after a difficult and hot day at work yesterday. 

I found the happiness. Training my brain has taken me some serious time, but putting in that little bit of effort every single day has helped me realize I have so much to be happy for. 

I'm off to do my meditation, before getting ready for work. But before I go, I have a challenge for you...

Write down one thing that made you happy today. Or if you're reading this as your day gets started, write down one thing you are grateful for from yesterday. Put it in your planner, or write it on a post-it. Take pen to paper and put something that makes you smile front and center. 

Life is too short not to find the joy.

​~Roxy