Happy

If you're happy and you know it clap your hands....If you're happy and you know it clap your hands.....
Just can't get this song out of my head this morning and started wondering why. 

My next thought was about tasks.  I have so many tasks to accomplish.  I seem to be so focused on what I need to do next. The next big project at work to get the next pat on the back, the next pile of laundry that I have to do, the next day's traffic that I'll be sitting in, the next meal I have to cook, the weight I need to lose.........................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................and on and on. Where is happiness in these thoughts?

Wait a minute, why am I thinking about those things?  Happiness for me generally bubbles up when I live in the now and not in the next moment. I need to take the time to sink into my feelings and into the moment and to allow happiness and not block it.

What is happiness?  For me it is watching the birds in my yard, it is sitting on the back porch with my husband having a beer, it is talking with my children, it is going to Mass, it is walking on the beach without shoes, it is swimming (or really floating) in the pool after an afternoon of working in the yard, it is having a party and cooking until I can't stand up anymore, it is my time in prayer when I truly listen to what the Lord is saying to me, it is ACTS retreat, it is knowing that I have such a strong network of family and friends that love and think about me, it is the hope that I can experience all these things again tomorow.  It is the understanding that I can have any and all of these things in every day if I remember to.
 
I'm clapping my hands right now!!!!!!!  If you're happy and you know it clap your hands.............