Today you get to decide … are you willing to let the “little things” steal your joy?
It’s time for you to become an active agent, cultivating and maintaining your own personal happiness quota each day.
It’s time to determine if it’s worth removing one of your happiness gems from your happiness jar?
The concept is pretty simple, and comes from Max Lucado’s book, How Happiness Happens.
In his chapter about “peeves,” he draws attention to all those “little things” that grind us … those “small” irritants that make our skin crawl … complaining, having to park farther away than you would have liked, people leaving their dirty clothes on the floor, someone sniffling next to you, and the like …
Suppose though, you have this beautiful jar full of gems representing your happiness quota for the day (the author describes a jar of ping pong balls but I think gems are prettier). Each time, you encounter a “peeve” or an “irritant,” rather than letting those gems “escape” from your happiness jar, you take a minute to actually DECIDE if it is WORTH removing one of your gems (or ping pong balls) from you happiness jar.
Usually, it’s not …
I love the concept, because it puts the responsibility of happiness on US … we get to choose … we get to decide if said irritant is WORTH getting upset over or not …
It also reminds us of the importance of “bearing” with one another or “tolerating” others just a little more … it’s the ultimate act of grace or mercy too as we “forgive” and “let go” of a few things that don’t really matter (and hope for the same from others) …
In our house, to illustrate this concept, I simply poured my youngest daughter’s precious rock collection into a glass cup. It’s been hanging out on the kitchen counter, serving us all in the last week or so, as we become active agents in determining (and maintaining) our own personal happiness.
Just yesterday, I was able to ask my oldest if someone parking in “our spot” at the lake was worth sacrificing a happiness gem or not … not sure what she decided, but I never heard anymore about it … and we had a wonderful time in our “new spot.”
I strongly encourage you to give this simple little happiness “trick” a try.
I trust you’ll be a whole lot happier for it!
Our Life Well Lived - Leanne Hintz 