If You're Happy and You Know it, Clap Your Hands!

It's been way too long. 

So, to catch up all my many readers, (yeah right--this blog is mostly for family and for my kids to someday read when I print this out) it's time to write another riveting, and life changing post.

I've been thinking a lot about happiness lately.  I'm a pessimist by nature.  I always have been, and I'm not going to make any apologies for that.  I've always struggled with just being happy.  That said, I'm a very self-aware person (or at least I try to be), and I just want to let the people I love and care about know that I am happy--on most days. :)

I'm a dreamer too.  I know it can sometimes come across as discontentment, but I want what I want but that doesn't mean I'm unhappy with what I have. 

In the past few months my life has taken a turn for the better!  It wasn't awful before, but it was HARD.  When we moved to Pleasant Grove, UT, it was a challenge.  My husband was gone 60+ hours a week, I was struggling with depression and loneliness--and I was pregnant the majority of our first 2 years while here.  And anyone who has struggled with depression, you know you can't snap your fingers and POOF! it's all better--if only it was that easy.  Sure, we all have hard days, but sometime we have hard weeks, and sometimes hard years.  I fall into that latter category.  It was so hard for me being a single parent  Monday-Friday night.  My pregnancies were physically hard and painful, and very draining.  

Now that you have the background, let me explain why I am so happy.  I believe that "Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy."  If I hadn't had such a hard few years, I wouldn't recgonize the happiness I have in my life. 

I found a work from home job that allowed my husband to quit his second job and I LOVE earning a pay check.  I now feel like I'm co-parenting which is AWESOME, I feel like I actually have a relationship with my husband, and we now have time to spend together as a couple and as a family.  That has made a world of difference in my life. 

Ultimately, what I'm trying to say, is that life sometimes really does suck--and it might suck for a long time based on your circumstances, and you know what?--that's OKAY!!  Be angry, vent, feel defeated, but then at the end of the day, get down on your knees, pray, and ask for strength to overcome whatever challenges are in your life that are making you feel that way.  And when the storms pass, be thankful for the bad because it makes it so much easier to appreciate and recognize the good.  And if you need someone to vent to--you call me and I will love you through your negativity, tantrums, and tears and I will not judge you.   

We've been singing and clapping our hands a lot lately because we're happy.  I hope you will too.