Monthly Archives: September 2012

Emotional Health, Goals and Dreams, Wealth and Fame

Money makes me happy

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When money makes me happy, should I feel shallow?

Money makes me happy.  Oh, I know that money can’t buy happiness, yet, over the years, I have noticed that having a little makes me happy. When I acknowledge this, I feel shallow, superficial, frivolous; because we all know this is wrong.  For instance:

The love of money is the root of all evil.

You can’t serve God and mammon.

Money isn’t everything.

But;

Money buys events

Money can buy the opportunity to be with your friends socially.

Money is what we give the utilities company and landlord to keep the bill collectors at bay.

Could it be it is the events, the friends, that make me happy?

Perhaps the happiness comes from the security of being able to pay my bills this month.

I stopped feeling guilty about being happy over money when I realized the truth of these words by Tony Robbins:  “Progress equals happiness.”

I found that small gem of wisdom, as well as the one that follows,  on Michael Hyatt’s blog site, Intentional Leadership.

According to Dr. Timothy Pychyl, writing in Psychology Today:

… the successful pursuit of meaningful goals plays an important role in the development and maintenance of our psychological well-being. To the extent that we’re making progress on our goals, we’re happier emotionally and more satisfied with our lives.” (Dr. Timothy Pyschyl, Psychology Today)

I should not feel guilty that money makes me happy any more than I feel superficial that good grades make me happy.  Both are a sign of hard work, achievement and progress toward my goal. It is time to be more satisfied with my life.

Character, Emotional Health, Family, Fiction is Truth, Spiritual Well Being, Uncategorized

Do you deserve compassion and forgiveness?

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Today, I am thinking about Vanessa Diffenbaugh’s wonderful work; The Language of Flowers (2011), which I have read twice in the past 96 hours.  I cannot get over the enduring love, understanding and forgiveness expressed over and over by the supporting characters; nor the deep understanding of human character and personality disorder exposed so profoundly by the writer.

I want to write like that; to plumb the depths of Hades and return victoriously with Eurydice; leaving my readers entertained, satisfied, hopeful, yet with the knowledge that life still takes work.  Happily ever after does not happen without addressing the issues one day at a time.  Nor does it happen without self-awareness and a compassion for the heart pain of others.

All too often, I subconsciously agree with the adage,”She made her own bed, she can lie in it,” or, “well of course he hurts, he brought it on himself, he deserved it.”

My great take away from this book has to do with what you or I went through. Just because you / I deserved it, does not justify the pain or make it less or any easier. This is true understanding and compassion. Let us be gentle with one another.

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Kevin Pulls a Coup; wherein we see that the God of the Universe is good to me

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Coup; a highly successful, unexpected stroke, act, or move; a clever action or accomplishment – dictionary.reference.com

How blessed I am that I got to see all three of my (grown) kids on two occasions in the space of two weeks!

I am fortunate to get to see my son Kevin and his family (think grandkids) a few times a week.  Yet, I miss Andrea and Philip and had not seen them since Andrea’s college graduation in early May.

Normally, visiting my children would be as simple as seizing a long weekend and driving 350 miles.  However, my aging Subaru with an odometer reading 340,000 already had its annual towing in June and has been showing signs of warning. I feel more than a bit iffy about heading out of town knowing I might have to call family to rescue me. Things are remote and rocky between Glenwood Springs and Vail or Breckenridge.

I heard they might come through town in early September, but that was at the behest of another and I had no assurance I would see much of them. So, as I said, I was missing my younger two and pretty much beating my fists on heaven’s door in my insistence, “show me a way to get to see my children.”

Meanwhile, Kevin contracted to film Rock Jam and began putting together a crew of a dozen or so.  Now, it happens that my three kids are amazingly talented and successful and all have experience and training at varying levels of videography, not to mention various genres of rock music.

Kevin called his siblings and recruited them.  At first, they declined.  Kevin persisted.  Together we negotiated a way to hurdle the issue of gasoline for a guzzling band van.  Within 24 hours, my two younger children were camping out under my roof, chatting, making music, hiking the beautiful desert trails in my neighborhood, and prepping with older brother for a 72 hour photo and video shoot.

They worked hard.  They shot a lot of footage and made friends and memories.

Kevin, Me, Philip, Andrea on August 26, 2012

And me?  I was feeling like the most blessed mother in the world.  Mother’s Day and Christmas surprise all rolled into a few hot days in August. My kids are creative, talented and successful and I have come to expect amazing things from them; but this time Kevin exceeded my wildest dreams – he really pulled a coup.