The Little Things
January 28, 2015

Being happy where you are is SO difficult, isn’t it? I can say for myself, it’s not something that really came naturally. Two years ago I posted about living in the present, and how I was trying to find more and more happiness in the little things in the moment. Part of what led to me calling this blog “The Little Things” is the result of that journey of learning to live in the present. I found out these little things that I was missing in life that brought joy and happiness to me, and I learned to embrace these things and hold onto them.

As we start this journey through the cold winter months, and this new year of 2015, I thought I’d share the following quote by Richard Carlson in his book “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” :

Be Happy Where You Are

“Sadly, many of us continually postpone our happiness – indefinitely. It’s not that we consciously set out to do so, but that we keep convincing ourselves, “Someday I’ll be happy.” We tell ourselves we’ll be happy when our bills are paid, when we get out of school, get our first job, a promotion. We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren’t old enough – we’ll be more content when they are. After that, we’re frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire. And on and on and on! Meanwhile, life keeps moving forward. The truth is, there’s no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges. It’s best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from Alfred D’Souza. He said, ‘For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life’.”

Powerful, isn’t it? The fact is that life will constantly have obstacles, pain, and suffering attached to it. This is the reality of living in this world. The reality is that we’ll always be able to imagine that “if only ____” happens, then I can really be happy, and this will continue throughout our lives if we aren’t careful. There’s no better time to be happy than right now, is there? In reality- it’s all up to you.

 

←

6 responses to “Be Happy Where You Are”

  1. Jess says:
    January 28, 2015 at 9:13 am

    Such a good reminder – thank you for sharing that. I actually really needed to hear that today.

  2. karla @ finding my fit says:
    January 28, 2015 at 12:49 pm

    Just found your blog through HRG… and this post resonates so much with me. Going through really hard times in the now even though I have so much great things happening still that I should focus on. Thanks for this!

    • littlethingscaroline@gmail.com says:
      January 28, 2015 at 2:22 pm

      Hi and welcome to my blog! Thanks for commenting, and I’m glad this post resonated with you!

  3. Kristen @ Glitter and Dust says:
    January 28, 2015 at 6:01 pm

    I definitely needed this. I am going through a lot of emotional struggles and am so focused on the future and unknown, that I’m forgetting to live in the present and be grateful for all that I have. Thanks for the reminder.

    • littlethingscaroline@gmail.com says:
      January 28, 2015 at 8:12 pm

      I definitely needed it when I first found it as well (this has been sitting in my drafts for awhile now). It’s certainly a good reminder. Good luck navigating through everything you’re going through right now.