What Happiness Means To Me - March 4

Happiness needs gratitude. It means a great appreciation for life and all it entails. It is looking beyond the cruelties and knowing that this world has beauty beyond our imagination.

There are many things that make me happy. The little things and the big ones...here are 5.

1. Music
        “Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent”
― Victor Hugo
A good song makes me happy...puts me in a place of peace. A song has the ability to evoke in me so many different emotions but the ones that make me happy are the ones that I love most.  A song that makes me think about the people I love, is one that brings me great joy. I mean how can you not love music!

2. Food

Well this is a given if you know me. Food sustains us,  gives our bodies the energy they need to make it through each day.  Eating food gives me great pleasure. I am beyond grateful that I have the provisions to buy food each day. There are soo many persons out there who worry each day about what they are going to eat. They are homeless and broke. So yes! Food makes me happy because I am blessed to be able to enjoy the variety.

3a. Friends
“I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

To have good people in my life who can make me smile and be there for me in the tough times...this makes me happy. I have been blessed with friends who put up with my nonsense and aid me in my growth. They make me realise that even when you feel things aren't going right, they are going somewhere and for a reason. I have made new friends and they give me joy just as much as the old ones. It is truly an honour for me to be able to be a friend and to proudly say I have great friends. Yes,  they frustrate me at times and I doubt their love. But at the end of the day I am reminded and my smile returns in full glow.

3b. My Love - Gibran
Gibran makes me happy in so many ways. He is there for me, he makes me smile and laugh my ass off. He makes me feel loved and cared for. He listens to my cares and concerns, ans he helps to ease my mind. He is a great soul and I am happy to say I love him and he loves me.

"You make my frown turn upside down and now my worries are gone." ― Owl City,  Hot Air Ballon

4. Family
I have a pretty dysfunctional family. I won't hide or deny that. I will say though that I am blessed to have a family and this makes me happy. It makes me eclectic when I think of my grandparents who assumed the responsibility for little me. They took care of me when my mother couldn’t and my father was too selfish to try. I am happy for the blessings to have cousins I can learn from, sisters to share life's trials with. I am happy I was able to know and love a mother so sweet, who sacrifices for her children and always put them first.
Though he was not the best,  I am happy because I have a father who makes me laugh and tells the most way out stories. Family is a gift. I may not have experienced that overprotective brother type thing that most baby girls do, but my brothers have been there for me and helped me. My two little cousins make me happy because I get to see them grow and I am able to help in whatever way possible.

5. GOD
Without the Heavenly Father, I would not have been able to list the above 4/5 things that make me happy. For this simple reason He is my main source of happiness.  He wakes me up in the mornings and gives me the strength to make it through the day. He has blessed me with my basic senses which allow me to experience the awesomeness of His creations. I am elated to know that I am blessed and highly favoured. To know that I have been given a gift and purpose by God, brings me unimaginable joy. He is the greatest source.

So just as the challenge urged me, I urge you to count your blessings. Think of the things that make you happy and write about them. Be grateful. Be happy.

Advice & Beyond
@Looking_Within

What are Your Goals for March? For me they are...

At the beginning of the new year, I spoke of goals which are very important when you are on a journey of growth. http://lookingwithinu.blogspot.com/2014/01/new-year.html  I made for myself a list of goals for the year, so each month I should try to fulfill these goals and/or maintain what they entail. Here are some of them that I wish to focus on for March.

1. God.
           Most important is a relationship with God. In a society of people either always on the move or stuck feeling sorry for themselves; we lose sight of the importance of God. We forget to be grateful and to help our brothers as God sends others to help us. So for March and every other month I am alive, my goal is to strengthen my relationship with God. To go to church regularly and get involved, to practice gratitude and to be a blessing to those around me. I wish to one day be able to feel his light shining through me, I wish to be a beacon for others.

2. Kindness

                 It is an aspired life goal of mine to be a better person; to be a shoulder to cry on and a listening ear for those who need it. Based on research and basic human knowledge, being kind helps to improve your quality of life. Just doing something for another person and help to make you happier in so many ways. Even better, it helps to improve the lives of those around you, because you never know when someone may need a helping hand or kind word. This is why it is my goal for March to be kinder, to be a means of encouragement and support for the people around me

3. Quality Time

                      I definitely need to spend more time with the people I love. Many times I feel distant from my family, friends and significant other. I feel a sense of loneliness that should not be because I have people who love me in my life. I am getting a 2 weeks break from work starting March 14 and It is my goal to use this time to be around my loved ones more. When we get too busy, we get distant. I don't want that.

4. Getaway!

                  Another goal for March is to have a day away from all the hassles of my everyday life. I suggested and have been planning a trip out of town with my boyfriend. I see him a lot but we don't spend nearly enough time together, so this will be the perfect opportunity to relax, rewind and reconnect in a new way. I just want to be able to lay on the beach and enjoy the greatness of God's creation with him. I want to explore together. This will totally give me some extra points on the quality time goal lol.

5. Writing

              With this month's challenge and the one I got for February, I am surely working on my goal to write and express more. But I need to write more of my psychological posts. So it is my proposed goal to write at least 5 posts for March this is not related to the challenge. I need to keep myself in touch with my true purpose, I need to remind myself of the reason I am working a job I don't like. Writing does that, psychology does that.

I have other small goals to achieve, or more life to do lists. I want to start baking and making healthy treats like fruit smoothies. I also need to work on getting my glasses and researching scholarships for my masters. March is definitely a month of things to do, but I will enjoy it. This will be a great month for me, no matter what!

Advice & Beyond

@Looking_Within