Finally, The Secret to Happiness is Revealed!!!

Dean  (the husband)

Shalane  (the wife  :O)

Okay, actually the secret to happiness was revealed in a movie over 10 years ago.   I am sure a lot of you have seen it, it’s called, “City Slickers.”  I love that movie, except for the yucky part where he delivers a calf.  Slimy.  For those of you that haven’t seen it, it’s about three men who leave the hustle and bustle of city life and use their vacation days to drive a herd of cattle on a Dude Ranch in Nevada.  In the end, they each find out a little about themselves, and the main character, Mich, played by Billy Crystal, finds what he was missing….his smile.  However, there is one line in the movie that I really treasure.  The rough trail boss, Curly, is talking with Mich and tells him that the secret to life is just one thing.  When he asked Curly what it was, the rugged cowboy simply says that it’s up to him to find out for himself. 

Now, I wish that I could tell everyone what their “one thing” is for their own individual self.  I only know that I experience it everyday.  I am a teacher, and many times my students have told me that I always seem so cheerful.  I just smile and say thanks.  My happiness has really thrown  a lot of people off.  About a dozen years ago, my father and I were talking about his six children’s lives.   He noted that a few of them were making quite a bit more money than I was making.  They had much larger houses, drove much bigger cars, and traveled the world.  He went on to say that despite all my sibling’s accomplishments, neither  my brother nor my sisters were happier than I.  That one conversation between my dad and I, I treasure as my favorite of all of the talks that we had together.

Now, as I have gotten older, I have tried to pinpoint why I feel like I do.  The “one thing” that ties in all of the blessings that I have received in this life is the word security.  I have security thru my religious beliefs, knowing that even better times are ahead for me after I leave this Earth.  I have the security of knowing that I have the love of a good woman, who I am happy to report is my best friend. :O)  I have the security of knowing that I have three wonderful children that I know we have raised to the best of our abilities.  They may not always make the decisions that I would have them make, but I know that we have taught them well.  I have the security of knowing that I have awesome friends, who I can turn to if I need anything, and hopefully know that they in turn can count on me.  Finally, I have financial security, which on a teacher’s salary is not easy to do.  If fact, since money seems to play such an important part in everyone’s search for happiness, I will make that the topic of my next blog tomorrow morning. 

I wish now that I could have explained this to my father while he was still alive.  Though, I do think that as he got older,  he started figuring it out for himself where my joy came from.   I truly hope that this is the case.  I also hope that those of you reading this post will be able to find that “one thing”  that enriches your lives.  Happy Trails!