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Because I'm Happy

As a child, I loved our family dinners. The eight of us sat around the kitchen table. So much laughter! So many arguments! My dad used to yell above the din, "Only three talking at a time!" As my older siblings became teenagers, they got involved with extracurricular activities, and they got jobs that took them from our family dinners, but there were still evenings, though not many of them, when no one had to rush off. Periodically, on those rare evenings, someone would pull out a deck of cards. Our game of choice was "Murder," but every now and again we'd play "Are You Happy?"

Each player drew a card from the deck. The card you drew dictated whether or not you were happy - the higher the card, the happier you were. Play went around the table, and each player made their declaration. There is, of course, more to the game than that, but since this isn't a game blog, I'll leave the details to someone else.

Sometimes...okay, most of the time...I live my life like a game of "Are You Happy?" When I came down with bronchitis and a sinus infection a couple of weeks ago, I wasn't happy. That was definitely not the card I wanted to draw from the deck. I'm not a very good sick person. I sit around and wait for health to take over. I don't relish my time off work. I don't watch movies all day long or immerse myself in a blessedly well-written novel. I brood. I watch. I wait. I don't want to miss a moment that might signal my health is back. I pounce the second I feel an ounce of energy. I make dinner. I unload the dishwasher. Something. Anything that is normal. I hate being sick.

On a recent episode of Downton Abby, the unmarried Edith lamented to her grandmother, Sometimes I think that God doesn't want me to be happy." The dowager Lady Grantham responded in the wisdom of age, "Oh my dear, that's just the way life is. You get through one trial and then another pops up. You get through that one and another comes along, and then another one, and then another, and then...(heavy pause as if she belatedly realizes what she's saying)...you die."

She's actually spot on about life handing us one trial after another, but that doesn't mean that God doesn't want us to be happy. I'm pretty sure He does wants us to be happy - even when we're dealt a card from the bottom of the suit. I'm learning (oh so slowly) that in order for me to do that, I have to live in the moment. Each moment. I have to recognize God with me in THIS moment. Right here. Right now. I don't have to sit around, waiting for a better card and then pounce on it. I can be happy right now. In the middle of whatever deuce I'm dealing with. 

If you watched the Academy Awards a few weeks ago, you may have caught Pharrell Williams' performance of his song from Despicable Me, Happy (you can watch the music video here). It's a fun song, and I'm particularly fond of the second verse:

Here come bad news talking this and that, yeah,
Well, give me all you got, and don’t hold back, yeah,
Well, I should probably warn you I’ll be just fine, yeah,
No offense to you, don’t waste your time
Here's why
Because I’m happy.

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