Month: May 2023

Be Happy

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Happy according to the Britannica Dictionary means “feeling pleasure and enjoyment because of your life, situation.” Focusing on the feeling pleasure and enjoyment because of my life, I find happiness in the simple things.

It makes me happy to see my three sons happy and successful. My heart leaps when they call or text just to say, “I love you mom.”

I enjoy sharing an evening with close friends. For many years we had an annual dinner with friends and associates from the tunneling industry. These evenings always brought joy to my heart. Chris and I were the youngsters of this group and we to took pleasure in hearing their tales of the past and soaking in the wisdom they shared on marriage, family and friendship.

Chris and I both find it makes our hearts happy when we are able to help others. Sometimes it doesn’t always work out, but as the work of Dr. Kent Keith said, “…in the final analysis it is between you and God; it was never between you and them anyway..” Who cannot be happy when you are pleasing God?

In the even simpler things in life I find joy: it makes me happy to look at the lawn and smell the freshly cut grass after it is mowed, to see a bee digging for pollen in a flower, to see the hummingbird come to my window, to hear a baby’s laugh, to watch puppies and kittens play and to view fabulous sunrises and sunsets, or see a rainbow stretch across the valley.

In all of these things I find joy and happiness.

The ringtone on my phone for many many years has been the melody to Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry Be Happy” and makes me happy every time I hear it.

Career Person or Worker Bee

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The question was posed, “If you had to go back in time and start a brand new career, what would it be?” Well, I would have to have had a career to begin with to start a “brand new” one. According to my Social Security record I have worked every year since 1972 except three. One was in 1974 when I was pregnant with AKA and moved to Alaska; and in 1991 and 1992 when Chris started SubTerra. I actually worked those two years, I just didn’t get paid!

I wouldn’t call anything I’ve done a career. I am just a worker bee. When I was young I was a very good student but I was much too timid and withdrawn and had no ambition to do or be anything. I know this sounds uninspiring but it is the truth.

As I got a little older and especially after I moved to Alaska, I became an ardent “people watcher.” I was often lonely and felt isolated thousands of miles from the rest of the US. Many nights I would go to the Anchorage airport and watch travelers come and go. I loved seeing the excitement and love people shared when they greeted each other or the emotional goodbyes as they parted.

In the early 80’s after I got my GED, I attended a local community college for a while and I was interested in knowing more about what made people “tick.” So at that time, and many times since then, I felt I might have been a good psychologist. I think I am a good listener and several times in my life I have met people that share some of the most personal things with me. Often these were strangers or people I just had met. Sometimes I wondered if there was something about my face that said, “I am a good listener!”

Anyway there it is… a Shrink.

In 1987 Chris and I had some discussion about careers and jobs, and although I do not remember exactly what brought about the discussion, the next day I wrote him a note about my feeling on the whole matter. My thoughts are below and my views are pretty much the same.

“I may not have a ‘career’ in the eyes of the world; but I feel my life has touched others in a positive way. I don’t have the need to prove myself to the entire world to show my life has value.

My goals and aspirations were sacrificed because of poor choices which I made while I was still a child. I believe I was given an above average intelligence by my Maker and I have benefited from it many times. I have nothing to boast about for my mothering; I’ve made many errors which I often wish I could change. I don’t want to look at what I could have been, but at who I am now; I am thankful for the life God has given me.

If my role in life from the world’s point-of-view is that of a ‘peon,’ then I am even more amazed at the wonders of God. My life may not change history, but if I try every day to live it and help others I know God will remember me when my life is over. This world offers no rewards…careers in this world are only temporary…I want to spend the rest of my life working at a career which would exemplify Christ’s life. My failure at a worldly career is of no consequence to me; my career success is yet to be determined.”