Happiness on the Drop Down Menu

I've decided that happiness is a decision.

Sure, we all have bad days, bad weeks. Hell, I'd be willing to say that the last 18 months have slapped the hell out of me. And there are certainly some events that are hard to spin brightly, even with the best mix master at the wheel. But for the most part, happiness is a decision.

Case in point: the sister of a friend of mine always views her glass as half-empty. And the remaining liquid contains curdled milk. She had her dream wedding a few years ago, followed by her dream honeymoon. Then she and her betrothed took 3 months off (what??) and traveled across the country in an RV. Now to me, that sounds like hell on wheels, but to each his own. They then decided to have children and, BANG!, got pregnant right away with a healthy, beautiful child. They wanted to have more children soonafter and, BANG!, pregnant with twins. All decisions she made. And yet, she isn't happy and complains about having three children under three.

I realize that everyones' life looks clean and bright from a distance, particularly if you're standing outside looking in and can't hear the kids screaming, the dog barking, and the fat husband snoring. But at the same time, life is about making informed decisions and then throwing everything you have into making that path work. Looking back over your shoulder at the life you just passed will only contribute to making you very unhappy, while driving smack into the tractor trailer in front of you.

This week I had to put my adorable, stolen cat to sleep. It broke my heart and I bawled like a 10 year old girl in the vet's office and all the way home. Call it self-preservation, or call it choosing happiness, but I've decided to focus on the good things. I had that cat for three years and he was warm, safe and loved for those years after being in an abusive home. I knew he had kidney disease and he lived for two really good years after his diagnosis. It sucked rocks putting him to sleep, but now he isn't in pain and is hopefully in a better place. The coppers never caught me for cat-napping and I didn't spend any time in the slammer.

I bought myself a pair of rose-colored glasses and I plan to look through them as often as possible in 2009.