Pursuit of Happiness

We as free citizens have the rights to: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Here lately it's hard to believe that the government is remembering that. The life and liberty are not the problem but the pursuit of happiness is getting harder to accomplish all the time. So why is it we let outside influences affect our joy?

We need to take back control of our happiness and our joy. Days and years spent unhappy are gone forever. The old saying, "Money Can't Buy Happiness", is that true or false? Can we have happiness when money is tight? We have to make some changes and some sacrifices but we can still have our joy. Can't we?

Money can take us to the movie, it can buy the newest video game and of course money is required for adventures. One of my favorite things is going to the theater, my lady's head snuggled into my shoulder and sharing a large popcorn. Does that become less special if it's only once a month instead of every week or to? We can spend a whole morning or afternoon doing a training walk together instead, we have had some of our best conversations during our walks.

Surveys show that couples fight about: Money, sex and the children more than everything else combined. But perhaps it's because we don't communicate till we are ready to attack or defend our position on something. Believe it or not most people are doing the best they can even if it seems that their best leaves a lot to be desired. Our best one day may be light years from our best on other days. But one of the plus sides about not having the extra money to be entertained means we have more time to rediscover the skill of communicating.

Children, I have no answer for. I don't know why we have fire ants and killer bees either. I guess they are to remind us how evil we were to our parents. But the stress reliever benefits of exercise and the the communicating during walks/runs can help their also. If you can talk it our and come to an agreement on what action to take the outcome is usually better.

Adventures can be closer to home and more often if you look for the ways. Most of us do our training on the street but we probably life pretty close to an area like a national forest or large park that would give us a welcome escape. Just getting away from the hustle of life and getting back in touch with nature can help get your serenity back. We live a half hour drive from Mammouth Cave National park and some of the best hiking around and we haven't taken the time to go for a couple of years. I'm going to plan a day trip for the week after the Nashville Marathon that is next weekend.

I'm talking to myself with today's blog entry. It's so easy to get in a rut, especially when winter won't go away and life's endless issures can seem overwhelming.

Thanks for reading.

Happy Panda