Happiness

"Your happiness is the most significant contribution that you could make." Abraham

Some mental health people say that the greatest gift we can give to those people who care about us is to be happy.  Isn't that what we want for the people we love?  For them to be happy.  And, the lovely thing is, it is our choice whether to be happy or not.  It takes just as much energy (perhaps even more) to be disgruntled and grumpy, as it does to be happy.  Our choice.  It is my belief that external circumstances do not matter too much, where one lives does not matter too much, how much money we have (as long as we have enough to meet our basic needs) does not matter too much.  No circumstance is perfect.  Yes, our lives would be different if we were not providing caregiving for someone with dementia, but we can still choose to be happy here and now, in this role as caregiver.  Granted it is harder to be happy if we are so overwhelmed and stressed with responsibilities that we have a hard time even breathing.  If that is the case, we must do something to lighten our load.  And, then:  let us make the choice to be happy.  Here and now.  Happy.