I have had extraordinary moments in an otherwise ordinary life. I’m no different than anyone else. You would be hard pressed to find anything, short of my children, that has made a lasting impact on this world. Yet, I am unlike anyone else. I am unique. As are you. You were created with a specific purpose…a specific goal to achieve in this life. I don’t know about you, but I’ve spent the better part of 61 years trying to pinpoint just what that purpose is exactly. The pinnacle of existentialism…why am I here?

It took a long time to figure it out, but here it is. The bottom line is, I am here to be happy. Before you go off thinking how self centered that is, let me elaborate. I chose to marry and bring children into the world. Therefore, it was my duty to take care of them when they were growing up. I didn’t do the best job of that because I was not happy with my marriage and my life in general. Had I focused on my own happiness a bit more, I would have been a better wife and mother and could have avoided a great deal of pain on everyone’s part. It is my duty as a Christian and as a citizen of the human race to take care of my fellow man and to feed the hungry and clothe the poor. The Bible says we are to give with a cheerful heart. Therefore, we have to find our happy place and plant our feet in that fertile ground in order to give our best.

So, where do we find our happy place? It is deep within…sometimes hidden in a box covered with locks garnered from life’s hurts. There is only one key to open that box and that is love. Love of self opens our hearts to love others. Love of a power greater than ourselves opens our souls to a love greater than anything imaginable. Once I found (and believed) I was lovable, my heart opened to allow that fairytale love to come in. Right smack dab in the middle of my ordinary life.

We are precious. We are small and ordinary and wild and wonderful. And we are loved. Don’t forget that. <3