Happiness

I love this little song about happiness that I learned at YW camp--I'm not sure where it originated--"Happiness runs in a circular motion, life is like a little boat upon the sea, everyone is a part of everything everywhere, you can be happy if you let yourself be!"

I've been thinking about how I am happy most of the time, but I don't always show it. The other day, when I web-cammed with my parents, I was kind of surprised when my dad commented on how nice it was to see me and my kids smiling so much. Maybe it had something to do with our faces being up close to the camera and that was mostly all he could see, but also maybe we were smiling more than normal. Anyway, it reminded me that smiling and laughing are great ways to relieve stress and make me feel happier even than I am already feeling. And it shows other people that I am happy too, which leads me to this great little quote by Victor Borge:

"...laughter is the shortest distance between two people."

I love that. I love laughing with my husband, my kids, my parents and siblings, and my friends. True laughter does bridge gaps and space between people, it bonds us together, it unifies us. I'm thankful and glad for laughter. I think too, when I laugh with my boys, who often laugh with abandon, I let go of the social restraints that sometimes inhibit us from letting the whole laugh out. Tommy really lets his laughs out until his whole body shakes. Georgie has a bubbly waterfall laugh--it seriously lights up any room he is in. Owen has a guffaw which comes out whenever he finds anything the slightest bit funny, and then he has a truly delightful laugh complete with two missing front teeth that is very cute. Will sometimes tries to stop his laughs from coming out, but they keep coming, which is also contagious. Ryrie has bursts of pure delight that are very infectious.

I loved watching my boys laugh and play together today. They organized this game of monopoly while I had a Sunday nap, and later, while I was putting Georgie to bed, they gathered themselves on the couch to study a book together. This made me happy today.