Thoughtful Thursday: Daily Happiness

Lately, I've been doing a bit of a personal experiment. I start my day with a "daily happiness" post on my personal Facebook feed. I sit down at the beginning of my day and find something that makes me happy in the past 24 hours. It's part of my "me" plan - my current goals in the areas of emotional development, nutrition, professional focus, and musical focus. I have an index card (because I LOVE index cards) taped to the shelves right by my computer that lists my four goals. (By the way, it's color-coded to my current system for identifying therapeutic domains...)

This is the goal that I am doing the best on at the moment (the nutrition one isn't really all that fun to pursue), but I am progressing on all of these things. This was my "new school year" resolution list, and I am proud of my accomplishments.

Some days I find it easy to come up with something that makes me happy. Some days it is much more difficult to find something to appreciate. (Today, by the way, it was a list of television shows that I absolutely love. It's kinda embarrassing how easy it was to find a bunch of tv shows that impact my life.) When I am aching due to the weather and my overweight body and my need to keep up with my very active students, it is good to focus on something that makes me feel happy.

My current quotation reminds me of the fact that sometimes the simplest consideration is the best.
"If we have never been amazed by the very fact that we exist, we are squandering the greatest fact of all."  ~ Will Durant
Doing a bit of investigation about Mr. Durant, I find that he was an American philosopher, writer, and historian. I think I may have to read more from him. The four quotations that I have found have challenged my thoughts about self and self-care. I don't think I'm really ready for the eleven volume Story of Civilization, but I may be able to find something interesting in Philosophy and the Social Problem.

The quotation that has been living on my desk lately gives me pause. There are times when I simply contemplate the fact that my life is based on a split second. I am intrigued by the concept of parallel universes, multiple possibilities, and the chance of hearing about "this other program at the University, called, what is it? Oh. Music Therapy" at a fine arts seminar for Senior Girl Scouts in Evansville, Indiana. What would I be doing now if I hadn't heard about music therapy? Special Educator? Occupational Therapist? Wishing that I had heard about music therapy much earlier in my professional career? But, I did hear about music therapy on that fateful day in that perfect master class through my Scouting adventures.

The fact that I exist as a music therapist in this place, at this time, is completely random and yet, is also destined to be. I am doing most of what I want to do at this point in my life. There are more points of happiness than annoyances, and I find it very important to my outlook and view to remind myself of those points of happiness. 

Happy Thursday. Go into the world and sing! 

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