Day 74: Choosing Joy

I haven't got to 'J' yet, so maybe I'm jumping the gun a little, but perhaps there's a reason the cosmos sent this across my path today.

A couple weeks ago I joined a new Spark Team called 'WeBlog.'* It ties in nicely with one of my New Year's Resolutions to post a blog daily. So far I have managed to keep that resolution; it has become important to me in a way I didn't anticipate, even when I have nothing meaningful to say.

[*I once read that the word 'blog' came about because a journalist had written of a 'web log' but neglected to add a space between the two words. Someone else, reading it, sounded it out as 'we blog' - as in conjugation: I blog, you blog, he / she / it blogs, etc., thus creating a new verb. Could be apocryphal, but it makes an appealing story, to my mind.]

The WeBlog team leader often posts ideas or questions to get us thinking, and writing. Today she posted 'Share some favorite quotes and explain why you like them.' She started that thread before 11 AM. It's now 8:30 PM (GMT). This has been wandering in and out of my thoughts nearly all day.

I told myself I don't have time to write a blog. I told myself I needed to do something more 'productive.' Well, time and productivity went out the window - and I am the happier for it. Because the following is what finally jelled in my head.

"I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it." --Groucho Marx

"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." --Abraham Lincoln

These two quotes say essentially the same thing. I like the detail and explanation of the first. The simplicity of the second makes it very portable, so I can tote it around with me.

I often have to remind myself that, yah, I DO have a choice. Sometimes I pick the poorer one, even though I know better. Sometimes the unhappy choice is almost forced upon me. But Life throws enough rainy days at us; when I can, I want to choose sunshine. By and large, I work at focusing and concentrating and making a deliberate effort to go with the 'right' choice: happiness, contentment, harmony, tranquility, the agreeable and the cheerful. In that lies power. Thinks me.

And it makes life a darned sight more pleasant, too, lol... So I'm going to go watch a program that's one of Himself's favorites, and then I will call one of my children, and then we will do Beatleband for a little while before bedtime. Believe me, there is joy in my heart this evening, and I wish the same to all of you.



Goodnight, Sparklers, wherever you are!