What Is Happiness?

Today as I reflect on the gifts I ordered on Cyber-Monday and the others I’ve already bought; I ponder will these bring happiness and joy to my loved ones?

It seems in todays culture we seek happiness as if it is a destination.  As a place to arrive, but really I find it is a place of being.   I have always believed we are responsible for our own happiness and yet we try so hard to make others happy.

What I truly believe is happiness changes with our stages of life.  Now….I’m at the age where being a grandma lets me watch the different stages of life.  Childhood, college, young families, middle-age and seniors.

The definition of happiness, joy and even contentment is so different in each stage.  Childhood is looking for parents approval, the best friend or friends.  Happiness for a college student may be getting into that desired school and graduating to the perfect job.  What about the young family?  It’s the wedding, the baby, the first house – all these bring happiness.  You get the idea.

Unfortunately, things and situations don’t last or they change.  I found myself a paraplegic in a six-hour time span from a rare neurological event in 2008.  I have a good reason to not be happy or joyous.  However, I wake up everyday and ask am I happy?  The answer almost always yes!

Today, I am rolling out noodles on a table cloth that belonged to my grandmother and that makes me happy.  It allows me to remember all the fun times I had with her in the kitchen.  It also lets me to think about my parents (they live in Florida during the winter.)  So this is just one example of what I mean about happiness being a state of being, not something we can attain through material objects.

I would be slack though if I didn’t mention that my relationship with Jesus is the number one thing that brings me happiness, joy and contentment.  The scriptures are full of reasons to be happy everyday you have breath.  They are so full of good news and hope.

I just want to encourage you to be happy with you and where you find yourself, because life never stays the same.

Enjoy your Christmas preparations my fiends,

Lora

Feel free to leave me a comment about what memory brings you happiness.

 

 

 

Living wheel life and noodles

Good Morning friends,

I hope you are all doing well this morning. It is just another humid, scattered thunderstorms kind of day here in Northeast Ohio.

Well today I woke up and thought I’m in the mood for homemade Chicken Noodle Soup. Chicken breasts (check), chicken bouillon (check), salt, celery, carrots (check). Noodles, wait where are the noodles??? oh no I don’t have any egg noodles. Okay, (slow down and deep breath) that isn’t a big deal – jump into the car and run to the store. No wait I don’t have a mobility vehicle to drive!!!

This is when you are so thankful for the wisdom of your mother and grandmother. How many of you spent time in the kitchen learning how to bake or cook from scratch? In this day of all things processed and unhealthy, I am reminded of the recipes learned. So my problem is solved by making my own from scratch noodles.

Noodle Recipe:
Mix two egg for every cup of flour with one teaspoon of salt. Roll out to the thickness desired for you noodles. Use lots of flour on the top and bottom of the egg dough to avoid sticking. Let them dry for about 5-6 hours at least (overnight gives you a dryer dough) and cut to the desired length and width. I use a knife or my favorite a pizza cutter for this. Then drop into boiling broth and bring back to a soft boil for about 20 minutes.

Nothing tastes better and you have a great memory of time spent in the kitchen with your mother or grandmother.

Have a blessed day,
Lora