Meaningful and Compassionate

Someone left this little lamb in our mailbox on Easter.
Isn't it cute!  It makes me smile when I see it and am thankful
for the anonymous person who left it.

I read a quote today that says:

"In the pursuit of happiness, we should focus on those things that are meaningful, as opposed to things that are simply pleasurable. By finding meaning, we not only create happiness or happy moments, we sustain happiness over the course of a lifetime." 

When I was trying to decide what counted as meaningful I got a little stuck.  Thanks to my class, I know that sometimes there are other words that mean the same, or similar things that might work better for me and so I looked on wordhippo.com.

Here are some words I liked:  purposeful, essential, worthwhile, useful, good, impactful, needed, valuable, and generous.

There are so many good things I can choose from everyday, and the trick is deciding what I can do with how I am feeling that day.  Sometimes I have lots of energy to do good things that are worthwhile, purposeful, valuable, etc..  Other days there are circumstances that make doing anything "useful", or "impactful" or any of those good adjectives hard.

Sometimes, maybe the most meaningful thing I can choose to do is give myself grace and compassion instead of beating myself up over what I failed to do.  Maybe it is doing something really small, because that is all I have the energy for.  And after I do that thing, focusing on what I did do, and not what I did not manage to do.

Today is maybe a little in between.  I am tired and have the same annoying headache that I've had for a few days, but I also feel just fine otherwise and there are plenty of good things I can actually manage to accomplish.  No matter what today looks like for you, I hope you will know that you are valuable no matter what you can or cannot accomplish, and that you will also know that you are loved.