Happiness

My newest meditation...from the book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, this (and many other bits from the book) has me thinking differently about happiness, in fact our destiny in general:

"...people universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you're fortunate enough. But that's not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it."

Well said.

Sharing

I hate it when my kids share...(cough, cough, gag, choke)

OK - I love it when they share some things, especially with each other. Like their toys, their activities, their friends, etc...and no, it doesn't happen as often as I'd like it to. They are after all, almost three years apart in age and that explains alot...

But I hate it when they share THEIR GERMS with me (more coughing, sneezing, nose-wiping, choke...). We weren't sure if K4 had allergies or a cold last week, you know the symptoms...coughing, sneezing, sniffling, teary eyes, stuffy then runny nose, a bit of a sore throat. She even asked to stay home from her beloved summer program one day.

Well, I guess it was a cold. Unless allergies are contagious too. Because now guess who's all coughing, sneezing, sniffling, teary eyes, stuffy then runny nose, a bit of a sore throat...yeah, that's right.

I hate it when they share their germs with ME!

Cousins

This picture was taken back in May (Gasp! Where HAS the summer gone?) when we visited MamaGoose, her goslings and gander in May...I've been meaning to post the picture for a while. I've been a bad blogger of late, have to work on that.

The picture reminds me that no matter how far away you may conduct your day to day business, when you get up close and personal with the people you love, things just naturally go well. Look at those smiles!

Even if the Sea Dogs lost, the memories we made on this day will stay with us for a long long time. Thanks Auntie Maine!!!

I promise to post pictures from their July visit with us BEFORE October...