Happiness Is...

[Vex]

[Shellidfl]

Noticing my Lily of the Valley flowers are in full bloom - LOVE the smell.  Gonna have a small bouquet beside my bed tonight...

Can scents help with LD?  I've read some that talk about aromatherapy helping.  Anyone have success?

[Sunshine]

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[johnb]

I read somewhere that bad smells can lead to unpleasant dreams. Not sure it's true, though. If it is, maybe nice smells could produce pleasant dreams.

[Vex]

I love lilly of the valley. When I was a little kid there was some growing alongside my house. When they were in bloom I'd sit by them and play, run my little plastic horses through forests of them. I miss that smell. Sometimes I'd pick some and rub the blossoms on my skin trying to perfume myself. My uncle didn't like them, said they smelled like old ladies, which made me laugh because I imagined him sneaking up behind old ladies just to sniff them.

Happiness is forests of lillies of the valley for toy horses to run through... and uncles who say strange things that make funny visuals in a little girl's mind.

[johnb]

I love lilly of the valley. When I was a little kid there was some growing alongside my house. When they were in bloom I'd sit by them and play, run my little plastic horses through forests of them. I miss that smell. Sometimes I'd pick some and rub the blossoms on my skin trying to perfume myself. My uncle didn't like them, said they smelled like old ladies, which made me laugh because I imagined him sneaking up behind old ladies just to sniff them.

Happiness is forests of lillies of the valley for toy horses to run through... and uncles who say strange things that make funny visuals in a little girl's mind.

I like the smell of certain flowers. Not sure what lilies of the valley (or lily of the valleys?) smell like. Have smelled flowers that are so sweet they're nauseating. That might have been what your uncle was trying to tell you.

[pj]

I came across some wild roses a few days ago and PM'd a photo of them to Moonbeam.

Right now, happiness is sitting in my up north getaway and knowing the day before me is going to be spent up here rather than in the Detroit area.  In general, however, I make the decision daily and hourly to be happy.  It is a choice I made years ago, and it changed everything for me. . . starting with my physical health.

[Vex]

Enviousness is imagining pj in his northern getaway.  Sounds amazing. I wish I could get up north more often.

How do you choose? Do you just decide when it's time to be happy and... be happy? In the counciling course I took couple years ago, the guy leading one of the classes said it was just that easy, just let go of whatever's bothering you, it's usually something in the past that can't be changed anyway, and live in the moment. He made it sound so easy. Is it that easy? I tried but my mind just clings to things.

[pj]

I've written extensively about this elsewhere. . . somewhere.  But that's pretty close.  I just got tired of being angry all the time and decided to change.  The decision was easy - the follow-through was quite a learning experience.  I had to wrest control of my "inner voice" from whatever dark, angry thing seemed to be behind it all the time.  I had to learn the physical manifestations of my anger and stress, recognize them and do something about it whenever they appeared.

It has been SO worth it.  My doctor was wanting me to go on BP and cholesterol meds.  Six months later I didn't need either, and haven't since.

[Shellidfl]

I think you just say Lily of the Valley flowers. 
Not sure if they worked, but this morning I woke a bit earlier than my alarm, treid to do recall, then mediated for a short while.  While meditating, more dream fragments came back to me...

[Sunshine]

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[johnb]

Enviousness is imagining pj in his northern getaway.  Sounds amazing. I wish I could get up north more often.

How do you choose? Do you just decide when it's time to be happy and... be happy? In the counciling course I took couple years ago, the guy leading one of the classes said it was just that easy, just let go of whatever's bothering you, it's usually something in the past that can't be changed anyway, and live in the moment. He made it sound so easy. Is it that easy? I tried but my mind just clings to things.

Not easy for me, either. But worth trying. One thing that kind of works (sometimes) is just acting though if I were happy, even when I'm not. That can make me feel happier.

[Shellidfl]

For today.... my last day of work before my trip!

[Vex]

Someone being kind enough to give me a ride home in the midst of a rain shower.

[johnb]

I think you just say Lily of the Valley flowers.  
Not sure if they worked, but this morning I woke a bit earlier than my alarm, treid to do recall, then mediated for a short while.  While meditating, more dream fragments came back to me...

Good idea on the flower name. And meditating as a way of recalling dreams. Have to try that.