My Jar of Happy

You know that saying, "I wish I could bottle it?"  When something is so good we want to preserve it forever or just save it for another day? Well I think I have discovered a way to do just that!

I do not always find time to journal even though I find it very therapeutic. I also find that with my busy household, my memory isn't always so great.  Then, to top off the trifecta, I am often just too tired or lazy to write.  I put it off until after a nap or in the morning, promising myself I will get up and just do it before everyone wakes up and keeps me distracted.

So my desire to write, to record my memories and take conscious inventory of all I have to be grateful for, can often go unmet.  That makes me sad. It frustrates me. It gives me the "shoulds" and we all know that should is a very dirty word that implies so much negativity.

But my new beautiful Jar of Happy is perfect.

She sits there on my shelf, open wide to accept notes of love, gratitude and beautiful memories that are as simple as jottings on a piece of notepad. the back of an envelope or old receipt.  It isn't about how pretty the note is. It is perfect the more imperfect it is because it is from the heart and in the jar.

On dimly lit days of the heart, or when I want to stroll back in time and smile, all I ned do is reach in and take out a small selection of nots and sit back and read. And that just makes my heart sing so loudly!

I also think that it will be a beautiful lesson for my babies.

My oldest son (9) forgets quite quickly that he had fun.  He will be laughing one moment then lamenting the "worst day ever" the next.  I do not want this to become habit for him.  I know it is just a phase.  But i hope that I can encourage him to write his gratitudes, smiles, laughs and joys down and have a tangible place to see and feel and access them rather than leaving it just to sink the bottom of his memory.

I want this jar filled to overflowing.  I want it to be testimony to my life anyhow wonderful it is.

This is not a new idea by any means.  It has and is practiced by many people. Just google and you will find many and varied hits about a vessel to keep your happy or your gratefulness.  This idea is simply new to me and I'm taking it and running with it because I think it will suit my mad, chaotic, hectic and curve-balled life perfectly!

So long as that curve-ball isn't one that I have instructed endlessly, not to throw in the house!