A to Z, 2012-- H is for...

Happiness.

Okay, so I'm going to go all corny on all of you. There's this song from a musical, "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" that is incredibly sweet-- so sweet, in fact, that it's probably been linked to tooth decay. And possibly diabetes.

(Please excuse the video's warbly singing indicative of an adult pretending to be a child. While the voices are not as polished as I would prefer, the accompanying animation more than makes up for it.)

For me, the best part is the last line of the song-- "Happiness is anyone and anything at all that's loved by you."

See, it's easy to get caught up in sadness. When you have a chronic condition of ANY kind, when you're constantly reminded of what you can't accomplish, or the disparity between how your life is and how you want it to be, it's easy to let the negative things in life truly take over. And those of you who know me, know that I'm not just some overly optimistic Pollyanna speaking hypothetically-- I know more than most just how hard it is to accomplish this. When life throws major wrenches your way, it's hard to stay happy while you're constantly ducking!

But even when life is at its worst, this song never fails to teach and re-teach me that while there might be things out of my control, there is always something good to balance out the bad. The song is a lesson in counting your blessings, a fresh reminder that the small things in life actually do matter.

My happiness for today-- my metaphorical "tying a shoe for the very first time", to quote the song-- is a new twirly skirt that has pockets. It was a gift from the "Easter Bunny", found in my basket from yesterday. Floor length, flowy, made from cotton, and (of course!) blue with white ferns fanning out in all directions. Perfect for a spring day, and the kind of thing that made me smile from head to toe just thinking about it!

What is YOUR happiness-- in other words, your metaphorical "pizza with sausage"? What made you smile today, even for a split second?