Come On Get Happy

I keep seeing pieces on the internet about happiness. They talk about all kinds of things that could improve the current state of your joy in life.

You could:

• Get rid of things.
• Buy new things.
• Work.
• Stop working.
• Have another baby.
• Change the way you parent.
• Put down the devices.
• Get off the internet.
• Get thin
• Stop dieting
• Go on vacation
• And So Much More!

There seems to be no end to the ways that moms want to help other moms be happy. Because we love to help.

Then sometimes we joke about happiness. Like the meme above, maybe we'll be happy if we can wear high heels, have an hour to ourselves, get to wear real earrings again, or if we can have a pee in private. And I'll admit, those things make me happy. Except high heels. I'm extraordinarily clutsy. It's a problem.

So, are we really that unhappy?

I'm not a rich woman, by any stretch of the imagination. Some months I have to stretch our budgets beyond the limits of what should be possible, in order to make it all work.

When that happens, I'm stressed and nervous, and I wish there were more to go around.

But I'm not unhappy.

What's kind of funny is that I've struggled with clinical depression for my entire adolescence and adult life. When I'm unhappy it's generally because of a chemical imbalance in my brain. Not because of anything I'm doing, should be doing, have done, have, or don't have. I'm just not happy.

Why are we so unhappy? Are we stretching ourselves too thin? Focusing too much on the kids? Not doing enough? Thinking too much?

I can't tell you that I have the answer to the happiness dilemma. I don't. But what I can tell you is that the one thing that does have an effect on how I handle my happiness, or my depression, is other women. 

I need people. I need people to talk to, and who will listen, even if they can't help. Even if they don't totally understand.

Maybe that's why I blog. Because when I talk to all 3 of you who regularly read here, I feel like someone is listening, and my struggles aren't the worst things in the world. Other women give me a sense of community and shared struggle.

So, I was thinking. If you are unhappy, and what you lack most is someone to talk to, my email link is in the sidebar. Every mom should have another mom to talk to. I don't have all the answers, but sometimes I have one or two. I'm also a great listener, and sometimes I'm funny. But only sometimes.

Let's be happy now. Because we deserve it.

*****
You know what makes me happy? When you guys click the banner below to register a vote for my blog. You can do it every day, and it means a lot to me to have your support. You're the best!