Happiness

This hermit comes to town every few days to resupply. He is such a delightful and happy character, spreading joy to everyone he meets. One day one of the villagers asks how it is he is so happy, and he responds it's because he touches grief every day.

Certainly that speaks to so much of 2006 for me, not my year. It's great to be in 2007. My appetite returned, I'm sleeping, and I'm my upbeat self again. I don't know about the spreading joy, though. I pay attention to what I'm teaching, in case it's true we teach best what we most need to learn. I've always felt I landed on the wrong planet ... I was aiming for one where peace and goodwill reigned. Thus my teaching of and practicing joy.

And I'm happy to be back here in NZ. This is a lovely spot. It's joy to be on my bike or out in the wildnerness hiking (actually on this trip I'm far more focused on tramping). I'm delighting in the warmth, the daily adventures, the wonderful connections that occur, the rekindling of old friendships, making new ones.

And it's interesting to revisit places we spent time as a family. I ponder ... and I wonder so much about my time with Noah and Sophie ... did I know how much fun we were having? Did I remember to hold on as tightly as possible to the joy of our days together? Did I suck all the marrow out of each day possible? I think not ... I think I took too much for granted. And I'm sad about not getting every ounce of joy out of every possible moment. And what a great reminder for today.