We had a great time in Yellowstone in case you couldn't tell by the pictures! I love spending time with Britt and I love Yellowstone so obviously it was great.
So I don't write very often on here, but I might try and write a little more often because believe it or not, I do actually have some things to say. Actually I have quite a bit to say but I'm a really private person and I don't share my opinion unless I think people will value it. I'm trying to share what I think more often because I think my beliefs have merit. I'm trying to make a concerted effort to stand up for what I believe in (or maybe that should be Who I believe in) regardless of what other people think so I guess writing some of what I think on this blog will be a small part of that. Mostly my posts will probably be things I think about in regards to counseling and working with other people. So here it goes (if you just read this blog because you love Britt and would really rather not read what I write, I apologize in advance).
Isn't it strange we spend so much time talking about things that matter very little to us and so little time talking about thing that matter a great deal to us? Like talking about the weather or sports instead of how we really feel about things.... You know what I mean?
Anyhow today I want to share a little bit about what I have learned about happiness in my 26 years on this Earth. It is incredibly easy to look to the future and say I will be happy when _______. I first became aware of this as a missionary although I'm certain I have been doing it for longer than that. In high school it was probably something like I'll be happy when I'm on the basketball team, or when I have a girlfriend. As a missionary it was I'll be happy when I speak the language or I am the senior companion. Yet it seems like when those things happened I always replaced them with something else in the future and I was never really happy being where I was!
Now, I often catch myself thinking, I'll be happy when I have a job with a salary and benefits, or when I own a house and feel secure, or when I'm a dad or..... you get the picture. The point is I'm still trying to learn to be happy where I am right now! In graduate school, in debt, living in a basement apartment...Why is it so easy to think of all the reasons not to be happy when I have far more reasons to be happy?
I have a fabulous life and really most of us do. I hear some pretty horrible things on a pretty regular basis. People do some really heinous things to each other, but I believe happiness is a choice that no one can take away from us. No matter where we are and what has happened to us we can all choose to be happy. We can find joy in the journey.
It doesn't mean that we're going to be happy all the time. If you are happy all the time you are fake and if I was your counselor I'd probably do my best to make you cry. Nothing helps me to be happy like a good cry every once in a while. Life is full of ups and downs, you just have to love it for what it is. Anyhow, I want to do better at choosing to be happy and I hope as a counselor and as a human being I can help others to do the same. Stay classy and thanks for stopping by!
Oh and good luck on your quest to find happiness. Take time to make sure you are looking in the right places.
3 comments:
I love this!
thanks for posting, Kyle! we love hearing from you :)
Kyle, you are correct, happiness is now and a journey. Years ago Charlie Brown and his friends, came out with a book "Happiness is..." All the things they said were in the moment, like two kinds of Ice cream, hitting a home, being loved. We all wish for a brighter future, but it will not make us happy unless we are happy now. You both make me happy just thinking about you, I wish I could see you guys more, that would make me happy, however that does not make me less happy, when I think about you. You stay classy.
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