Secret of being Happy

Do you Pinterest? You know, sit for hours with your laptop, tablet, phone and scroll through photos of houses we wished were ours, outfits we wished we had in our closets, organized closets, articles about saving money or paying off debt or, my favorites, how to parent! 

Well I do! I scroll before bed most nights, I find it puts me to sleep. I'm not going to knock Pinterest (I actually love some of the articles and blogs on there and I use it as a marketing tool for my business). 

But I find that many people use Pinterest to try and become something they aren't. You see a farmhouse pinned with the most fantastic inside decor, door paint color and amazing landscaping and you start wishing it was yours. That's what's bad! 

I have a Pinterest board that I love (actually a couple of my personal ones I go back to regularly). But the one I am talking about is titled "Signs and Quotes". The other day I pinned a quote and it hasn't left my mind.  

I started this blog by writing about saving money, living on a Firefighter's income. I have friend's who make more money then I would ever know what to do with. They take vacations more times in a year then I could even imagine. They have huge houses, pools, new cars and their kids are always dressed to the T. 

It took me a long time to not compare what I have to my friends.You see, I love our tiny house, my kid's are forced to be with or around me all the time. They talk to me, they don't yell from one end of the house to the other. We love our "new to us" cars, because when my kids do decide to color on the roof with a crayon I don't have to worry about it! We travel, my oldest plays travel soccer and we have learned that turning those weekend trips into tiny small vacations are even more fun then long weeks away. 

You see, our lives are different then our neighbors. Heck, my life is different then my best friends, even my own brothers. And I am ok with that. Life would be so boring if we were all the same! My husband and I devote our lives to others. As a firefighter, he works everyday to save other people's lives. We serve the Lord our God in every aspect of our lives. We know that everything we have is given to us by Him. He provides for us. But it took us a really long time to get to this frame of mind. We struggled like I said. But we are happy now. We are happy with making our everyday lives the best with what we have. It's ok we don't take our kids to the movies or museums all the time, we have a blow up pool, water balloons in the back yard, a fire pit for s'mores and Netflix for family movie nights. And don't get me started on the endless number of board games for Family Game Nights! 

I wrote a post on my other blog that fits so well with this topic, Circle of Happiness. Check it out if you like. 

No one wants to struggle whether internally with yourself or for all of us to see. Be happy with your life, be happy everyday. If you truly can't be happy, then it's time to do something about it so you can get to that place of happiness. Life is a beautiful, fun, crazy journey; it's even better when you have a smile on your face! 

I pray today that each of you are truely happy with who you are and where your life is today!! Enjoy it! And don't forget to smile and share something positive with someone else!