Choosing to Be Happy

I came across a quote by Jillian Michaels of all people that really kind of hit me. "Happiness is a choice. Life will not always be easy. You won't always be happy. Things will go wrong that are unfair & totally out of your control, but...YOU have a choice. You can choose to become a victim of these unfortunate events or you can choose to learn from them and grow."

I've heard the old adage that you need to choose to be happy but I guess the word "victim" is what really hit me. I never looked at it as letting yourself be a victim and if there is one thing I have never thought of myself as is a victim. That empowered me to take a look at my life and how I react to it. So the last few days although I've been really tired and overwhelmed at times I have made a choice to not so much be happy but to NOT be a victim of the situations and people around me. I think that I've been happier the last couple of days because of it.

I've also tried to figure out how to be better organize my days, especially with the kids home for the summer. We also have the blessing of having Patrick over this summer. For those who don't know Patrick is the 7 year old that lives across the street and has become good friends with Ethan and Holly. Patrick's Mom Holly (yes another Holly) is a single mom and we try to help her out whenever we can and so we said that we would watch Patrick this summer.

Anyway, in the attempt to get better organized I came across this great website/blog on Ryan's cousin Raimi's blog. http://www.simplemom.net/, thanks Raimi!

It is great so check it out. It has great idea's to get your crap together and for anyone who really knows me I can't live without lists. I have "to do" lists everywhere and simple mom has a form called the "daily docket" that helps to organize your day. Score! I used it yesterday and I loved it. It not only helped me get organized it gave me inspiration and a place to write down the funny things my kids say that I want to remember. Then I can take them to my computer and record them in, you guessed it, my blog.

So here are the things my kids said to make me smile...

Ethan - "When I woke up I was crabby, but then I shook my head and now I'm fine."

Holly - singing the primary song "Wise Man & Foolish Man" changed the words a little..."The wise man build his house upon the rock and the rain blew the trampoline down". She sings almost constantly which I love too but I really get a laugh when she changes the words. I just can't let her see I'm having a chuckle because she gets very upset that I'm laughing at her. So take note.

Well now you can see the route my posts will be taking in the future. Hope you like it and you could always give some feedback. I love comments...hint, hint. ;)