***PSA-There is questionable language in this post. And it felt really damn good to use it.

 

I am in favor of a good ironic moment.

And, I am finding, God is too.

Life is filled with it’s share of irony.

A while ago, I decided to create a personal challenge. I dedicated a whole month to making happiness a priority. To embracing my own happiness.

Little did I know, once I put this into the universe,  I would encounter some of the unhappiest situations that I have had in a long time. That when I naively decided to dedicate a whole month to examining the little things in life that make me happy, it would become such a struggle. That every handful of days or so another unhappy circumstance would enter my life.

That it would become really hard to want to do a daily post on things that make me happy and fuel my stoke, when inside, I was feeling anything but happy.

Almost like the universe said, “Okay Karen, you want to talk about happiness? You want to tell people, ‘Look On The Bright Side’ and ‘It’s All About Your Attitude’ and give them fluffy happiness quotes? Well, let me put some challenges in your way and see how happy you are then. Let’s see if you can practice what you preach. Let’s see if you can be authentic in your happiness.”

I’m not the fastest learner, just ask some of my past teachers.

It took me a while, but I now realize this was a test. I was being challenged to be made better.

That’s what God does. S/He wants us to be the best version of ourselves. And the only way for this to happen is through struggle. Through movement.

[Tweet “We only grow when we are forced to maneuver through difficulty.”]

Through struggles – I am being challenged inside and stretched to become the best me possible.

But, it isn’t easy. It is really fucking hard actually.

I am sure you know what I’m talking about. I know you’ve struggled and grown as a result of your own personal trials.

Growing pains are a real thing. It is painful to grow.

And I firmly believe life is all about growing. We only grow when we are pushed and forced to maneuver through really difficult shit. We will never grow if we remain stagnant.

There are terrible things that happen in life. People get sick. We lose people we love. People don’t live up to our expectations. We suffer because of the situations around us. We feel out of control.

Ultimately, the only thing we are in control of is the internal.  Our insides; our guts. Our heart, our mind, and our soul. We are in charge of how we perceive things going on around us. Of how we interpret other people’s words and actions. Of how we internalize unhappy circumstances.

We are in charge of what we do with the shitty things that happen.

We are in control of our insides. We can chose to change how we perceive things.

But, it takes . . . SO . . . MUCH . . . DAMN . . . EFFORT!

[Tweet “We can choose to change how we perceive things. But, it takes EFFORT! “]

It’s hard to not let everything outside of ourselves drag us down.

In this world, when the external gets hard, the internal is the only thing to make it easier. But, it takes a lot of fucking effort.

It takes effort to look for the good things, despite what’s falling down around us. It takes effort to believe that things will get better. It takes effort to be grateful for all the little things that bring joy, because sometimes, the big things are all we can see.

Because these big things are SO big, SO important, they can get heavy, really heavy . . . that’s what actually makes them the big things.

And when these big things get difficult, which they will, and we want to just pull the covers over our head and say, “I quit,” we need to remember, the little things are there just waiting to be noticed. Waiting patiently to be appreciated so they can bring a small smile across our lips.

Little things like:

The sun that always rises.

The unconditional warm snuggle of a dog.

The salt residue that the ocean leaves on our skin.

Our favorite T-shirt.

A good joke.

The scent of orange blossoms in the air.

A fresh, warm croissant.

A really good book.

The smell of a baby.

These little things remain constant.

When the big, meaningful things in life become arduous and make us feel we can’t go on, the simple little things will always be there.

And for that I am grateful because it helps me forget, even for a moment, that the big things can really fuckin’suck sometimes.

Salty Kisses,

Karen