It's THAT time of year again!

Everyone seems to have the "blah's" right now. It seems like everyone has something to complain about! For some it's the weather. Other's it's that they don't "feel good" or that they don't have any money. For students, it's all the schoolwork that they have to do.

Don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that I'm not participating in this "blah-ness", because I am just as guilty! I try to hide my "blah-ness", but it's there.

Last Monday (January 24), David told me that he had heard that it was supposed to be the most depressing day of the year. I said, "Why?". He said that he had heard that it was because of several factors coming together. One, it's a Monday and Monday's are the most depressing days anyway. Two, the weather is usually dark, cold & gloomy at this time of year. And three, for most people... their credit card bill comes in the mail about this time, and they are faced with the reality of how much they spent at Christmas. Other factors include: The fun of the holidays is over and theres nothing new to look forward to and for many they have now broken their New Year's resolutions.

I didn't "see" what David was talking about when he first told me, but I am beginning to realize that it's true. It seems that many are depressed or have the "blah's" right now. It may not have hit exactly on Monday, January 24th.... but it did HIT!

So..... What can we do to beat the blah's??

Let's focus on the POSTIVE things in our lives. Let's count our blessings and take note of all that God has been so gracious to give us. We ALL have so much to be thankful for and so many reasons to be HAPPY!!

And then, let's pray for those that are truly miserable or are clinically depressed, and have more than just the "blah's". There are many who... have lost jobs, are unhappy in their marriages, have recently lost loved ones (or are about to), are lonely, have life-threatening illnesses, .... the list goes on.

When I started writing this post, I was about to write about my own "blah-ness", but as the words have come... I have realized that I really have no reason to feel "blah". So, I am going to put on my HAPPY FACE and go foward with my day.

Hahaaa... I just realized that I think I remember that Oprah is doing a show today on "Happiness"! I think I'll be tuning in to watch!

~ Wishing you all much HAPPINESS today!

A to Z Blog Challenge ~ H

I have two words for today... HOPE and HAPPY. Both words are heavy on my heart this morning.

Let's start with HOPE.

Wikipedia says that.... "Hope is a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life." -- I like that! I am a firm believer in having a positive attitude.

I also like one way that webster.com defines it... "to expect with confidence". To me, that means that while you are "hoping" that something happens, you also feel "confident" that it will happen. With this definition, I think the words FAITH and TRUST go hand-in-hand with the word HOPE.

Now, let's look at HAPPY.

Wikipedia uses the word "Happiness". Here's what it says -- "Happiness is a state of mind or feeling characterized by contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy." I love what this says! To me this is saying that if you are not happy, then you are not content, do not feel loved (or you are not showing love to others), are not satisfied, pleased or joyful. -- How sad is that??!!

I do believe that... to be happy, you have to find contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure and joy from within YOURSELF. It cannot come from someone else. This is a lesson that I am having to learn myself, right now. I cannot let the unhappiness of someone else, bring me down. I also cannot make the other person be happy. This is something that they have to do on their own. -- Another lesson that I need to learn!