I am grateful for air conditioned movie theaters. I am grateful that there are a bunch of good movies that I want to go to the theater to see, so many that I don’t think I’ll have time to see them all in the theater. That’s a problem I’m OK with having.

My prompt for this week is happiness. Here’s how it is used in the books I am reading:

  1. After two brief months, they found themselves enjoying a close friendship- an unexpected gift for two women who’d neither expected nor asked for much happiness. Min Jin Lee
  2. Stitch these lighter, more carefree moments together in your heart so the memories become like a well-loved quilt, ready to embrace you with a sense of happiness, warmth, and comfort when you need them most. Melissa Michaels
  3. He’d laughed, and I loved the way his eyes crinkled around the corners, like happiness enveloped his entire face. Julie Clark
  4. More happiness hormones were released when people imagined themselves lying on a beach than when they were on the beach. Jenifer Close
  5. Life’s too short to hold on to the rotten things- I’d far rather have a head full of happiness. Janine Marsh
  6. Friendship is a place for public happiness, a give and take that is receptive to the world and to others. Alissa Wilkinson
  7. They had that look about them, a smug religiosity, as if happiness were owed, in this life and whatever followed. Nina de Gramont
  8. “I am sure you will be necessary to my happiness here.” Deborah Davis

How I’m going to think about happiness:

  1. Does another person make you happy?
  2. Should we rely on others for our happiness?
  3. Is it happiness, or it’s pursuit that we are entitled to?
  4. Is happiness a goal that we should be actively persuing?
  5. Do we say I’m not happy as a sort of excuse?
  6. Do we think happiness is the big things and not the small?
The Bacchae Chorus (excerpt)
Euripides

Blessed is he who emerges from under affliction.
In various ways one man outraces another in the race for wealth and power.
Ten thousand men possess ten thousand hopes.
A few bear fruit in happiness; the others go awry.
But he who garners day by day the good of life, he is happiest.
Blessed is he.

39 thoughts on “Gratitude and Mindfulness- 7/9/22”

      1. I tend to coast thru life in a state of neither sadness or happiness. My state of mind is just even with the occasional dips and spikes. But to be content would be blissful.

        Liked by 1 person

  2. Films I hope to see in the theater: Mainstream: Elvis, Thor Love & Thunder, Retro or Art House: Where the crawdads sing, A patch of blue (celebrating Sidney Poitier), The Heroic Trio/Executioners double feature (celebrating Michele Yeoh), Girl Crazy (celebrating Judy Garland) & Arrebato (Spanish horror)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Elvis….for Butlers performance alone is a must see. We are supposed to see Thor at some point this weekend. Will see craw cause I read the book. I saw Marcel the shell with shoes yesterday. Loved it. I think you would appreciate its quirky charm

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  5. Happiness comes and goes I think, it’s not a constant for anyone and I think it’s differently experienced by everyone. I might be wary of someone who says they are “always” happy.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  6. I believe we’re in charge of our own happiness (contentment/word-of-the-day), but that we are fulfilled through our authentic connections with others. Relying on others to make us happy sets us up for disappointment.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. But to answer one of your questions, you absolutely cannot rely on others to MAKE you happy. In my opinion the only one that can do that is you. And I haven’t been inside a theater since way before the pandemic.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  9. Yes who is responsible for our happiness? I don’t necessarily think we should rely on others for our happiness, but others can certainly bring us joy and happiness. Ex # 1 once told me, while she was cheating on me, that I was totally responsible for my own feelings and emotions and, therefore, there was nothing she could do or say that would anger me, upset me, humiliate me, or make me sad in any way. I call bullshit on that one. Others can certainly be responsible for creating feelings of joy, happiness, worth . . . the list is as long as there are emotions to experience. Now, I find happiness and joy in the smallest things 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. My mom is a perfect example of someone who thinks she needs another person to make her happy. It’s been so sad to watch her life since my parents divorced over 30 years ago. Personally, I am happy randomly over small things.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  12. Cannot rely on others for our happiness but there are those who do make me very happy at times!
    There are definitely days where I am happier than other days, but most of all I try to be content. Content with the here and now. If one is content they will be happy.

    I am intrigued with your book’s words on how one thinking about lying on the beach made them happier than actually being on the beach!??? How can that be? LOL! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I’ve read studies that say planning something and looking forward to something is actually more beneficial than the actual thing

      Like

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s