[blockquote source=”James Openheim”]“The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet.”[/blockquote]

When I was a little girl, I was teased mercilessly. Children can be so very cruel, and when hearts are not yet conditioned towards kindness ~ well, it can leave a terrible mess in its aftermath.

Oh, I suppose in a sense I ‘had it coming’ – I was a chubby, forest-wandering ballerina with a raccoon as a pet. And, did you know for the first ten years of my life, I absolutely refused to wear shoes?

I had feet like a Hobbit before Tolkien was cool.

And, I couldn’t have been happier. Because, tucked inside each delicious moment was an opportunity to be me…in all of my tree-climbing, rock skipping, squishing ankle-deep into the mud glory.

It wasn’t until I was around 10 or 11-years-old that I was suddenly faced with the harsh reality of my ‘oddball-ness.’

“What are you doing?” my teacher scolded. “Can’t you see this is why the other children are teasing you?”

While the others were busy gathering fall leaves for a project, there I sat holding a woolly bear in my hands and wondering if the rumors of winter were true. After all, the woolly bear is far more accurate than any weatherman could ever be.

So, there I sat – with teacher hovering over, urging me to venture outward to find my inner happiness.

That never quite made sense to me. Happiness isn’t something to be pursued, rather it’s something to be felt…in each moment, and no matter how you may choose to get there.

For me, happiness is the peeling bark of a birch tree, and the scent of crushed sassafras leaves. It’s the patterns of light breaking through the trees, and the infectious trill of my daughter’s giggling.

It’s the way my best friend smiles at me…always knowing, and yet loving me still.

True happiness, I’ve learned, isn’t something to be ‘found’…rather, it already exists, right here…and right now.

So, I guess the question then becomes, are you really open to it?

Something to think about, now isn’t it?