Happiness

Sometimes emotions are hard to figure out. Good feeling emotions are often hard to identify. I was asked if I take them for granted. I don’t think I do, but I do have trouble identifying them. So I’m looking into some of those this week and trying to come up with words that describe the various good feelings a person can have.

Happy is obvious. But what does happy mean? I looked up happy in a thesaurus to see if I could get a better idea of what happy means. Some of the words were helpful but others were not. For instance, is feeling blessed the same thing as feeling happy? I don’t think so. I think feeling blessed goes along with being joyful, the sense that all is right in the world even if everything seems to be falling down around me. Blessed is more than happy. Ecstatic could have its roots in happiness but I think it goes beyond mere happiness to something bigger. So ecstatic might be too much to just be labeled happiness.

However, cheerful seems to fit with happiness a little better. Cheerful, in my view, means to feel happiness in a way that shows on your face and in your actions. Cheerful means being of a jolly disposition like something funny could happen at any moment. Cheerfulness is being good natured and easy to get along with. That’s also true when I am happy. I am easier to get along with.

Another word that happy brings to mind is light. Happiness is light compared to the heaviness of sadness. Happiness makes me feel light and like I’m walking on air. Everything is soft and easy when I’m happy. Everything seems sunny when happiness is present. So light can mean the weight of happiness and the brightness of happiness at the same time. Other words the thesaurus mentioned were peppy, perky, and playful. I can see feeling those things when I’m happy. When happy I have more energy and am more alert. Those things are associated with peppy and perky. It’s certainly easier to want to play when I’m happy.

So now I have a sense of what it’s like to be happy. Maybe I do take it for granted a little bit and forget to notice happiness. Maybe by writing out some of these ideas I will be more aware of happy feelings when I’m having them. Maybe I’ll notice when I’m happy more of the time. We shall see if that happens.

Other good feelings I’m going to explore this week include contentedness, joy, peacefulness, excitement, thankfulness, confidence, and hope. Maybe I’ll write a series of articles about each of those things.

No Ideas

Sometimes it’s hard to come up with an idea for something to write about in my blog. I don’t have a boring life, so the fact that I can’t think of anything to write about kind of irritates me. Life does have it’s routines and maybe I get caught up in the routine a little too much and forget to notice the unusual or the extraordinary.

One thing that is going on in our lives is that our son will be moving to Chicago. His first real, post-college, job begins June 19^th. That means we have to move some of his stuff from our home to his current apartment (or to a storage unit near his current apartment) so the movers will be able to move all his stuff at once. This has been a big project. The logistics of it are still being worked out. While it is somewhat frustrating and a bit overwhelming to deal with all the details, it is also an exciting time. We are very proud of him. He is trying to finish up his graduate studies, look for an apartment in the greater Chicago area, and plan his move. All we have to do is get his stuff to him. I don’t know why I’m feeling so overwhelmed by it.

We also have our daughter home from her first year of college. It was a good year as far as her studies went. We are very proud of her for all she accomplished during her freshman year of college. We’ve been able to have some good discussions about a wide range of subjects. I’m cherishing these conversations and times together. However, it would also be good if she could find a job for the summer. That is proving a hard thing to do. She may end up doing some volunteer work for a local Christian organization. Whatever she does it will be nice to have her around for the summer.

So, there are eventful things going on in our lives. I should be able to come up with even more interesting items to write about, but for this week this is the best I can do. Hope you are having a good week.