The Audacity of Being Happy for No Particular Reason...

There are a lot of reasons to be happy...

And there are a lot of reasons not to be happy.

Most of the time, I choose to be happy anyway.

And I think I do that mostly because it is audacious.

I kind of love that.

There are always a million reasons to be happy in your life. Sometimes they are easy to count and other times we might have a harder time because the current life circumstances are harder.  But always there is something to be happy about...

And happiness is not the same as gratitude.  I am grateful every single day for all the blessings in my life, but happiness is something else, something that is a little different from being grateful.

I've noticed something peculiar about happiness. We seem to think we need a reason for it.

Someone asks how you're doing, and you say, "I'm really happy," and the inevitable follow-up is, "Oh! What's going on?"  As though happiness requires supporting documentation.

A new relationship? 

A promotion? 

A winning lottery ticket? 

Did you lose ten pounds? 

Did someone die and leave you a shitload of money?

Nope.

I'm just happy.

Apparently, that's suspicious.

We've become so accustomed to defining our lives by what needs fixing that being happy without having everything figured out feels almost irresponsible.

There's always something that could be better. Your body. Your bank account. Your relationships. Your career. The state of the world. The state of your kitchen.

And yet, somehow, you can wake up on an ordinary Tuesday morning, drink a really good cup of coffee, look around at your imperfect life, and think, Holy shit! I like it here.

Not because everything is perfect.

Not because you've finally arrived.

But because you've stopped making happiness contingent on the next thing.

Have we become so invested in our struggles that happiness feels like we're abandoning our own story?

When you've spent years surviving, healing, rebuilding, and reinventing yourself, what happens when you realize you don't actually have to be working through something every single day?

Maybe joy doesn't need to be productive.

Maybe peace doesn't need to be earned.

Maybe you don't need to turn every good moment into a lesson about personal growth.

And maybe, just maybe, you can be happy while the rest of your life remains a complete clusterfuck.

I don't have everything I want. I haven't figured everything out. There are still things that need fixing, people who annoy the shit out of me, and questions I can't answer.

But today, I'm happy.

No explanation. No justification. No supporting documentation.

And I think that's a pretty fucking wonderful thing.

Have the audacity today to just be happy for no fucking reason whatsoever...

Again, still...