H is for Happiness

Happiness is a sometimes elusive and often fleeting emotion, particularly for a chronic depressive such as myself. However, it seems to be the thing I spend my days and nights looking for.

In many ways, I've found it! I have a fantastic husband, we have several wonderful dogs (our collection keeps growing as we can't seem to turn a stray away and the word has gone round the neighborhood to all the strays that we're suckers for mutts, lol), I have great (if extremely invasive at times) parents and siblings who rock (well, apart from one of them). I'm blessed with 2 gorgeous nieces and a fabulous nephew (who's closer in age to me than any of my siblings) and I have a pretty good job in an economy where many people do not have a job of any description, let alone one that could be classed as "pretty good". I have amazing blog friends and I'm developing and cultivating some real life, local friends as well. I really have very little to complain about lacking in the happiness department, yet I find myself sinking into unhappiness most days.

Maybe this is down to hormones or medication - what with IF, diabetes, hypothyroidism and the other problems I have, I'm on some medication that makes me quite crazy at times - or maybe it goes back to that chronic depression thing. Maybe its situational (despite loving my parents dearly, I'd be lying to state I was happy with our living arrangements and being right next door to them) or maybe it's just that I'm one of those people who can never be happy with anything I have. I'm open to believing any of the above is true. Whatever the case, happiness is the thing I'd most like to find.

I do see ways in which I could see myself finding the kind of happiness I'm looking for - becoming a mother, having a house of our own, developing some of my creative skills into a career I could enjoy more or, more salaciously, winning the lottery. While the lottery thing is more a dream and not realistic, I can see how the others could happen, eventually.....hopefully.

Why is it that we can so easily let undesirable things that happen to us make us unhappy, but allowing the good things that happen to us make us happy is so difficult? What makes you happy? What happiness are you most grateful to have in your life? What makes you smile when you're day is not going so great?

Don't forget to enter the Something Shiny Giveaway! I will try to get those better photos of the necklace up tomorrow! I apologize for not getting them up today.....it's been a very long day complete with a 9-hour roundtrip to the airport to drop my parents off for their trip to New Jersey to see my brother, so I haven't had an opportunity to get the photos taken and up yet. More later.....