IS happiness a Warm Puppy? - The Self Improvement Blog

By Irene Conlan -

Happiness!? In the United States we have the Constitutional right to pursue happiness although no one can guarantee that we will find and keep it.

Ask ten people what they want in life and several will most likely say, ?I just want to be happy.? Follow that with the question, ?What does happiness look like to you?? or ?How will you know when you are happy?? and you may get a? deer in the headlights look and a response akin to ?I?ll just know.?

Charles Schulz wrote a book in the ?60s titled, ?Happiness is a Warm Puppy? that featured that loveable little Beagle, Snoopy, with all his wit and witticisms that made us laugh and wish we could have a pet like that.

So what about it? IS happiness a warm puppy?

Happiness to me is a habit of thought and emotion that creates a feeling of well being within me that is not shaken by external circumstances. It may rain, the car not start, your best friend leave, the bank account be near zero and ? well, you get the idea ? the core of you knows that everything will be o.k. and the feeling of well-being remains.

I used to believe that happiness happened to me and that if I could get the right people, things and finances in the right amounts, happiness would come to me. It is true that I had periods of feeling great but keeping the right people, things and finances in the right balance presented a challenge that kept me a little off center. If I lost any one of these things, then what?

When I finally understood that I create my own happiness and it has to do with the ?inner? me ? what I think, how? I react, what I believe, how I love and how I trust and that I have control over these things my life began to change. I?m definitely still a work in progress and I have to be diligent about keeping my thoughts positive, my heart open to loving and being loved (not always an easy feat) and direct my emotions toward happiness (Yes, I still get angry, I still overreact at times and jump to conclusions ? as I said, I?m still a work in progress- a very human work in progress). Slowly I?m beginning to notice a change within me that isn?t shaken if the proverbial wind blows and the storm hits.

Now ? how about that warm puppy idea?

I have a warm puppy named Smarty who is now seven months old. He is the puppy in today?s picture. He chews everything he can find to chew. He can run by the trash can and without pause, grab something and get to the living room couch with it before anyone else can focus. He has bad manners that we?re trying to stop and ?no? is a word with absolutely no meaning for him ? yet. The point? He is a free spirit who knows what he wants and goes after it. He is completely sure that there will be food in his dish, fresh clean water always available, toys that are just his, and a lap whenever he needs one. He isn?t afraid that if he loves me he will be hurt ? he just loves me and it shows in everything he does. He follows me everywhere I go, gives me slurpy puppy kisses, sleeps on my foot when I sit at the computer so he knows I?m close, and brings his toys and drops them in my lap when he wants to play. He eats when he?s hungry, sleeps when he?s tired, and has a way of letting me know when he needs or wants something.? He trusts, loves, relaxes and is what he is ? a puppy. A warm puppy, that is. And I would guess that he?s a happy puppy.

I?m learning a lot about happiness from him and perhaps happiness is, indeed, a warm puppy. At least it?s a start.

?

?

?

Source: http://theselfimprovementblog.com/self-improvement/featured/is-happiness-a-warm-puppy/

turkey pot pie turkey pot pie southern university regenesis fanboys ucla usc ucla usc