Happiness...

I had a thought the other day that was too profound to be my own so I have decided to attribute it to 'divine inspiration'. I was thinking about all the dear friends I've had over the years who struggle through life, their trials and tribulations seem endless and even when nothing major is falling apart they still can't seem to be, what I can only term as, "at peace".

As I was considering this a thought popped into my head...."You can't be truly happy until you become the person you have the potential to be".

Somehow, at that moment, it made perfect sense to me. I recalled, how as a young teenager, I was a distress to my parents in many ways, I strained at their counsel, tested the limits of their endurance, and tried their patience. Every summer I would spend two or three weeks with my Grandma Lila, she was my protector, my friend, someone I looked up to and adored. She would tell me that she thought I was meant to be her daughter but something got mixed up in Heaven. She told me often how wonderful I was and how much she loved me, she would extol my "virtues" to anyone who would listen, at the time I found it both flattering and embarrassing. The thing that bothered me more and more about this as I grew up, was the thought "Would she still love me as much if she knew all the m istakes I have made, if she knew the real me." It was that dichotomy that disturbed me, the me she saw, vs. the me I thought I was.

In the last few years, especially since her passing, I have come to realize that the real me is exactly what she saw. She saw my potential. She saw, not the rebellious teenager, but the me I could become. I truly believe that it was my struggle to become that person she insisted I was that kept me from a truly long and painful journey through life.

I know people who are wealthy, in good health, blessed with good jobs, lovely children and many material treasures and yet they struggle with low self-esteem, alchoholism, drug abuse, divorce, infidelity, dishonesty, and unhappiness. They see their "earthy success" and curse God and man alike for withholding the one thing they want the most......happiness. They wrongly pursue more and more in the way of possessions but neglect the things that really matter, they feed the body but starve the spirit.

Then there are those whose every unhappiness is blamed on someone else, their mother, their father, siblings, the boss, their ex, whoever.......but they fail to look inside and examine what changes they could make that would bring them happiness. We can never control someone else, only ourselves.

After all these days of thinking about it I believe it really is true....You can never be happy until the struggle between who you are and who you should be is resolved....

I hope those who are seeking happiness and peace can find it. Bless you all today.