NaBloWriMo Day 18

Friday, 18 November 2011
What has been the happiest moment of your life thus far?

I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to say "My wedding day" or "the day I had the Kid", but no. Neither of those were my best days ever. Our wedding day was the hottest summer day EVER (pretty much), and I almost passed out; the day I had the Kid I'd had labor induced at some God-forsaken time in the single digit A.M. portion of the day, yet didn't have her until almost 15 hours later. Although, I *did* get some heavy-duty drugs when I had the Kid... Nah, still not the best moment ever.

I've had lots of "happiest moments" throughout my life.

Flashes of glorious perfection, fleeting at best. Sometimes Time really does hold still long enough for me to realize that *this moment* is one of those special moments, that although I'll likely forget it, it's magical for just right then.

Sometimes it feels like something goes "click!" into place. Sometimes it is a shift in my thinking that allows me to see things in a whole new way, thus leading to me figuring it out. Sometimes it's mundane.

For instance, one of my happiest moments while studying abroad in Scotland came when I was tired, thirsty, and really wishing I could find somewhere that served Diet Coke ON ICE. I got on a bus going the wrong way from the direction I actually needed to be going; decided it was no big deal, I'd just hop off at the next stop, cross the street, reboot, and try again. We went around a corner, and I would swear I heard angels singing, for there at the next stop was a Burger King. Yes, indeed. I can't begin to describe how great that pop tasted. And it turns out it wasn't angels singing, it was actually a Mayan musical band playing on a corner during the Festival.

Another happy moment came when I realized that yes, I really had managed to graduate with a 4.0 GPA for my 2 year degree. The immense pressure I'd put on myself was lifted in an instant. I was only 1 of 2 people to do that in our graduating class.

Day to day life is where I find my happiest moments. It's easy to be negative sometimes, and I know I have my days where my happiest moment is when I finally just get to go to bed and leave the day behind. I'll never be nicknamed "Suzy Sunshine", which is fine, but it's a good reminder to me to find the happy moments where I am and in what I am doing, not where I think they should be.