Read this statement on the internet this morning and its been spinning around in my brain like a tongue twister all day long. “Happiness is not having what you want, but rather wanting what you have,” Rabbi Hyman Schachtel. I’ve been pondering on this in the swing today. What actually is happiness? Good old Webster’s defines happiness as an emotional state characterized by feelings of joy, satisfaction, contentment, and fulfillment. I think happiness is a conscious choice. And sometimes this choice takes some effort. It’s kinda like learning the difference between wants and needs. My friend Boss Lady says happiness is an intense fleeting emotion but contentment is a long-lasting deeper sense of peace and satisfaction. She’s right and I’m content sitting here in the porch swing.

Saw a beautiful little lilac colored butterfly today, a fast furious flyer. Darted around the porch several times before I could get a good description. Looked it up in my Alabama butterfly guide and it’s a Spring Azure. So pretty with a flight pattern of curly cues and twists. Spring Azures are associated with royalty and elegance, love and mystery. Another little creature colored by God’s glorious paint brushes. When I walked Penelope I sat in the white rocker by the zinnias and a small silver-spotted brown skipper lit on my arm and fanned his butterfly wings a moment. I love what Nathaniel Hawthorne says about happiness. “Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” I like to think of the butterflies as messengers from heaven reminding me Chief and Rosie are at peace and are sending me comforting rays of butterfly sunshine.

The sunrise has kissed another wonderful summer day awake with blue sky and white clouds and hot sunshine. I’m enjoying the birds. The cardinals are quietly eating breakfast on the bird feeders and drinking from the birdbaths. I’ve moved the birdbaths to the shade but I bet the water is still bathtub warm. The fighting finches must feel faint because they’re sharing the feeder perches with each other and the cardinals, no loud fighting and flitting around this morning. Mr. Downy Woodpecker, dressed for church in his red beret and black and white checked sport coat, is happily perched upside down on the suet feeder getting a quick snack. A slight wind is cranking up the wind chime hymns as a fat little wren rears back and loudly practices his choir solo. As he sings from the porch bannister the bumblebees and a lone hummingbird get ready for church on the yellow petunias.

I’m back on the porch at dusk and the sun is putting on her pajamas. She’s turned on her bright night light at the top of the giant oaks across the street, getting ready to lay her head down for the night. There are lots of clouds floating around so I know Mother Nature is putting paint on her palette, picking up her brushes from their Mason jars, getting ready to create another sunset masterpiece. I wonder what colors she’ll dip her brushes in tonight. Lots of cardinal dinner guests at my bird feeders as twilight spreads across the landscape. The cardinals are quiet and visit the birdbaths for a drink before they leave. Counted 16 cardinals tonight, I know Chief sent them.

What is your idea of a beautiful life, a beautiful day? I’ve learned to appreciate that life is fleeting and we’re not promised tomorrow. Life is a gift from God. You have to dare to explore your dreams of what you want your life to be. Don’t search for some life shattering moment to find happiness. Be content with your everyday blessings, enjoying the simple joys of life. Live life to the fullest and appreciate every day. When you’re knocked down stand back up and remember God sends a rainbow after every storm.

“When we realize the shortness of life, we begin to see the importance of making every moment count.” —Dillon Burroughs