Sometimes, happiness is a choice

It’s that time of year, where everyone around us starts asking, what am I grateful for?

There are so many moments small and large that we should all stop to acknowledge. Often, it is more than we realize amidst our busy days.

For me, I have a new nephew who made a sudden and difficult entrance into the world, bringing lots of chaos and love with him. I have family and friends who are an unending source of support.

I also consider myself fortunate enough to have stumbled on a career I love, even at its most challenging and frustrating times.

I say stumble because the journalism class I first took in high school was an alternate, and even then picked to match a friend’s schedule.

I was hoping for a foreign language class, she wanted band.

Neither of us got what we thought we wanted.

Today, I write for a living and she teaches journalism.

Funny how life doesn’t always give you what you want, yet often gives you something you didn’t know you needed.

I’m a big believer in making the best of a situation. Some people might put that down simply to stubbornness, and I‘ll say I’m guilty of that more than I’d like to admit sometimes. (I reserve the right to disagree with you later though.)

But I would also say life is too complicated for us to know what’s around every corner.

Trying to predict it will drive you crazy.

And the truth is every time a curve ball comes your way, it may be the moment you’re meant to grab onto, that unexpected thing you didn’t even know you needed.

Either way, we always have a choice to make.

I refuse to decide to be unhappy. My time is too precious for that.