Happiness

If you are not happy with the way things are now, you will never be happy. Happiness can be elusive, something you are always seeking but somehow never finding. It is easy to find things to be unhappy about, your looks, your finances, your weight, your lack of accomplishment, the list is endless.

I have had people say to me that they are amazed at how happy I seem to be. Usually I answer by saying, "Really?" Do you think so?

My friend Steve said to me yesterday that are so many people who have lives that seem to be less troubled than yours and yet they seem to be more unhappy than he says I appear to be.


Certainly we all have varying degrees of happiness depending on what is going on in our lives at any particular moment. I do try to be a happy person most of the time. I tend to shy away from thoughts of self-pity and of focussing on what I do not have or have lost.

Things are the way they are. We can only do the best that we can given the circumstances in which  we find ourselves. For me, happiness is not that difficult to achieve. I make a conscious effort to be happy about the good in my life.

Currently I am happy about finding a roommate after an exhaustive five month search. Even though my new roommate, Drew, will only be here for six months, it will give me much needed financial relief, that makes me happy.

I am happy to have such a beautiful condo and I am thrilled that despite the loss of both of my legs I am able to live independently.

What brings me the greatest happiness is the love and support I receive from my family and friends.  My life would be so much different if I didn't have a family who I knew I can count on to always be here for me.

I have written many times about the importance of friendship in my life. I do not think the quality I find in my life would be nearly as fulfilling and satisfying without the continued support of my friends.

Anyone could easily find reasons not to be happy and wallow in a pit of how awful their lives are, I choose not to do that, even though with the loss of my legs it would very easy to do.

I want to be a happy person and so I seek and find reasons to be happy. When this whole leg loss nightmare reared it's ugly head, I knew I could be aimed toward a life of difficulty, self-pity and potential unhappiness.

Granted, my life has had its share of difficulty but somehow I have always had a flame of hope that has continued to flicker.

No one is ever happy 100% of the time, but we do have some control of our personal happiness.

Do I think some people are predisposed to being happier than others? Possibly, there do seem to be individuals who see the positive aspect of situations more readily than others. However, I think  we could all invest time in trying to be more positive about our lives.

Some people have told me that I live in a PollyAnna world, seeing the world through rose colored glasses. It is true I have a tendency to see the good in people and situations, if I can.

As I have demonstrated through the writing of this blog over the past nearly two years, I also feel discouragement, impatience, disappointment, and host of other negative emotions. What I try not to do is get locked into those emotions foe an extended period of time.

I feel that if I want to deal successfully with being a bilateral transfemerol amputee, I must continue down a path that is optimistic, always searching for and finding a little bit of happiness along the way.


If that is being a PollyAnna than so be it, I am happy to fulfill that role....I think it beats the alternative.

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