Finding Happiness in 2021
2020 is finally over, Now what?
"At some point, you have to stop digging." That is the last line from one of my favorite quotes. It means that to get out of the mess, stop doing what you’re doing.
In this instance, its o.k. to stop trying to fix it or even make 2020 'better'. The year is over. Stick a fork in it. Done. Once you’ve come to that realization, its almost like a giant weight that has been lifted. Whether we even get back to normal conditions where there are no more signs in the stores to remind us to stay six feet apart or that masks must be worn at all times is no loner the issue. By the way, I love those signs at the store’s entrance that they are out of cleaning supplies and toilet paper. It like the stores are saying, ‘This is the store you get those items, but you cant buy them here.”
So how do you find your happy place in 2021? One thing I have learned from the many years of living on this planet is that every so often, you have to go back to the basics. When things seem to get way out of control, that’s the time to stop, take a step back and do the things we typically say are 'simple'. Humans aren’t built for retreat. We are built with our eyes and our feet pointing in the same direction.
That can be difficult at first if you haven’t done that in a while, or even at all. My daughter and her husband came down before Thanksgiving and brought her new yellow lab puppy with them. One day I was playing with him in the back yard, throwing the ball and then he would run at full speed to get the ball and bring it back. The thought occurred to me, who taught him to bring it back so I could throw it again? He was still a young puppy and was still trying to find his legs, but he did it and it made him happy. It was instinct, I guess. The dog was happy. He enjoyed bringing the ball back to me. I think that we could learn something similar. Make time for something that makes us happy.
It could be something as ordinary as a good home-cooked meal, or something even simpler as a loaf of homemade bread in the oven. The smell of bread is certainly one of the things that God invented the nose for; and I think that people associate good smells with positive memories. The sense of smell is very powerful and can be great for ones mood.
Or maybe its something as simple as digging up a part of the backyard and turning it into a garden. (The smell of fresh turned dirt is a good smell for me.) I don’t know if its true, but I heard that more people are taking up gardening as a hobby in these ‘troubling times’. At least you get to eat the things you grow.
Don’t have a thumb of green? How about turning a room into something you actually want to spend time in? People who have degrees say that one of the best things you can do in your home is to get rid of clutter. Now that folks are working from home; do you have more or less clutter in your house from when this thing started? I had to turn my man-cave into a recording studio and have brought in a couple of plants. Watering them every other day gives me something else to focus on. It seems counter-intuitive, but doing things for other people actually make you feel better about life. I know, I’ve done it and it works.
While sitting at the Thanksgiving table last week, I thought of all the things I was grateful for in my life. My wife and family, of course. My house. I have a place that I can call mine. I have water and food. I can live another day. A job I actually like to do. As I kept going, the more complicated those things got. The internet, so I can read everyone's gripes and whines. A new phone that I have to learn and program to not wake me up with another update at 2 in the morning. I should have stopped at food. I think the point is, being grateful made me think about my life and at the very level of having the basic necessities actually made me feel good. Good about myself and life in general.
Lets not repeat 2020 anytime soon. Maybe taking a couple of steps back and focusing on something else isn’t such a bad idea.
