Being Happy Regardless

A peaceful early morning on the UWS.

It's 6:30 a.m. and this is the first "free" time I have had in days! Hunting down sources, classes, Final Cut Pro training, church, date, homework....Folks, I am exhausted. Yet every time I open my mouth to complain, I can't. I just can't. I am so thankful to be in graduate school. I am so thrilled to be living in Manhattan. I'm living my dream. There is nothing to complain about there.

I have been giving thought the past few days to this talk from a recent church event. Being happy despite external circumstances. My grandpa used to say "Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it." Last year was probably the first time in my life where I could have easily resigned myself to a state of depression and no one would have judged. Now I had my hard days, they are documented here. But I also realized early on that I could not change my ex-husband's mind to leave. The only control I had over the situation was control over myself, my reactions, my life, from the moment that apartment door shut.

So I surrounded myself with positive people, bought myself lipstick, and truly found joy in the journey. My mother used to have a little countdown for me and my move to New York because she thought that was when my life would start again. But you guys? It never stopped! Days were not waisted in despair and that year turned out to be one of the best in my life.

Are you being faced with crummy circumstances? How have you found happiness in less than ideal times?