I love the comic strip Baby Blues. Absolutely love it. I find it funny and often stunningly accurate in it’s depiction of a real family.
But recently, this strip ran in the paper, and it gave me a lot to think about:
I get calls like this on a regular basis, and make calls like it as well (“I know you told me already, but what kind of cough syrup are you allergic to?”)
Not to be a fuddy-duddy, and I get the humor, but is she supposed to be upset about getting that call? I sure hope not, because when I see that interaction, I can easily rattle off ten things to be happy about (and just so you know – I came up with this list in under two minutes). If I were the wife in this picture (and I am – often – so I guess that’s why I’m so happy), this is what I would be thinking:
- I sure am happy that I have a partner to share my life with.
- I am so happy that he is trying to do something nice for me.
- I’m happy to live in a country where there is such an endless choice of pickles. In many places, there is one jar on the shelf (if any) and I’d be lucky to get it.
- I’m happy that I need cream of tartar because that means I’m cooking something sweet to enjoy.
- I’m happy I live in a house with indoor plumbing.
- Every single day, I am grateful for hot water. I’m not making this up – every time I step into the shower or the bath or wash dishes or start a load of laundry, I think about how great it is to live in a place where water comes to my home and is heated for me when I need it. It’s kind of a miracle.
- Very happy to have a phone. More than 50% of the world’s population has never made a phone call. That’s changing quickly with new technology, but still, what a luxury the phone is!
- I’m happy to have working limbs, so that when the phone rings, I can hop out of the tub and get it in time.
- I’m soooo happy to have a master bath. Right there. Right inside my bedroom.
- RELAXATION TIME!!
So next time your life looks like this comic strip, whether it’s dealing with your husband, your kids, noisy neighbors, nosy neighbors, or any other minor nuisance, think about all there is to be happy about. It’s easy if you try.
This was very apt for me because a) I often feel like the woman in the picture and need to concentrate more on the reasons to be happy and b) I’ve just started reading The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman, on recommendation, and it reminds me a lot of your book (learning your partner’s love language as a second language). They do one for children too (for parents, I should say) which I’m going to get. It has clicked like no other relationship guide and I wonder how much of that is due to the groundwork done in reading your book.
I LOVE The Five Love Languages. My husband and I both read it and it gives us a real shorthand for understanding when we aren’t hitting on all cylinders. And thank you so much for the kind comments about Happiness as a Second Language. I am always thrilled to hear it’s helping people. Amanda, you are a treasure.
You have to be happy that the husband calls. 1) He is doing the shopping, and 2) he is trying to bring exactly what you want.
If you don’t want to be disturbed, be sure to tell him not to disturb you this time.
I get my naps interrupted all the time (I take 3-4 some days, so it’s going to happen) – so I just give him the information – and go back to sleep.
Life is too short to worry about little things.
Alicia
“Life is too short to worry about little things.”
You said it!!