Friday, November 5, 2021

Happiest Person You Know

Recently, my middle son came home from school and told me he had been given an attendance quiz in one of his classes that asked, "Who is the happiest person you know?" He told me a little shyly that he had answered that I was that person. I was flattered, of course, but also somewhat surprised. I do try to be positive most of the time, but, I'll be honest, I have cried more tears in the last two years than I have cried in the whole rest of my life combined. And just a few days earlier, he and I had had a disagreement that did not evoke happy feelings from either of us. But somehow, despite all that, he is still able to see me as the happiest person he knows. To me, it was a realization that the effort I put into personal growth every day is paying off. I am definitely not happy all the time. I lose my temper. I get depressed. I have anxious thoughts. But I try really hard to shut down negative thought patterns when I notice them. And I work diligently and consciously at replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. This work creates pockets of peace in a naturally anxious mind, and in those pockets, happiness starts to grow. I felt inspired by my son's answer to the quiz question to try to continue to be that person for him and for the other people I interact with and especially for myself. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I can't stand fake, so I'm definitely not attempting to gain the appearance of happy for the sake of some social media post. I genuinely want to keep growing into and becoming, not only the happiest person my son knows, but one of the happiest people everyone knows. My outward life is a reflection of my inner peace. And the more I cultivate peace in my mind, the happier I become. 

I'm curious: Who is the happiest person you know, and why?

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