Mommy plus Five

My 365...

My beloved husband turns the big "5-0" today, and I am hoping that he can experience the same epiphanies that I have been blessed with since I crossed into the 50 + category of life.

I have come a long way this past year.  Physically, spiritually, emotionally I am not the same person I used to be.  Not that the person I used to be was necessarily a bad person, but that me was very much driven by the expectations of others.  Not a good way to live.

Turning 50 was the birth of a new consciousness. Life for me became an experience of all the wonderful possibilities in my day to day being.  It does not matter what anyone else thinks of me or the things I do.  As long as I can look at myself in the mirror each day and say..."Way to rock the good life V!", then I have accomplished happiness.  It is a very freeing way to exist let me tell you.  My "glass always half-full" mentality" is stronger now than it has ever been.

Anything less than this is being caught in a rat race.  And I am no rat!  :)

Jack is quite the opposite on so many levels.  His glass is perpetually half empty.  No one lives up to his expectations.  Unhappy is the flavor of the day...day in...day out.  Exhausting!  But why?  Why oh why is he so miserable all the time?  Our life is amazing.  We have four incredible sons.  They are kind, smart, funny, loving, warm, and all around awesome human beings.  They love and appreciate us always.

We have been blessed with a precious grandson.  Cooper is an absolute joy.  Garrett's girlfriend Kori is thoughtful, kind, honest, sweet and genuine.  We live in a nice home, we have great careers.  We live in a beautiful state where the weather is perfect 98.9 percent of the time and there are so many great things to see and experience.

Then why the negativity?

The short answer...I don't know?  It seems some people are stuck in the grumpy zone.  That is Jack.  He questions everyone's intentions.  He trusts no one.  He seldom smiles.  He never starts a conversation on a positive note.  Everything that flows from his lips is a complaint about something or someone.  It is so heavy and sad.

So today, this day his birthday, all I can wish for Jack is joy.  I hope he can find joy in his life before it is too late.  If I could load it into a box, wrap it in gold with a perfect silver bow...I would.  He has it in himself to be happy, he just needs to find a way to let it shine through.  He needs to find a way to toss aside all the little annoyances in life that don't mean a thing.

In the meantime, the boys and I carry on.  We continue to live a happy life.  We start the day with love and a smile, and we end the day with the same.  I am teaching them to look past their father's mood.  I won't let them get sucked in.  I want them to know and believe that none of it is because of something they did or did not do.  If he comes into our space we greet him with a smile and open arms.  If he smiles back...awesome.  If he starts to rant, he will be greeted with a hand poised in his general direction.  "Talk to the hand mister!"  Yes, they have my permission to do that.

Is that rude?  Heck no!  That is a way of saying..."STOP"...open your eyes....life is awesome!!  Jack finds sadness and anger in every aspect of his life.  Even when 9 times out of 10...there is NONE there to be found.  "STOP!"

He will take my hand signal, throw a tantrum and march off like a wounded two year old, or hopefully realize that there is no reason to be blue.  Happiness is a choice.

Our family deserves no less than pure love and joy in our life time.  Judgment, anger, cynicism have no place in our world.

Blake wanted to give his daddy a special gift.  Jack is always complaining that he can't find this or can't find that.  Blake has made note of some of those things.  A favorite scarf made for Jack by our daughter Meagan, his favorite alarm clock, his favorite flashlight.  "Where are they, I can't find them???"  So this afternoon, Blake went into the garage and searched though some boxes until he found them.  He asked me to wrap them up for daddy, and he added a handwritten/created birthday card.  PERFECT!  I would love to receive such a thoughtful gift.  Hopefully Jack will see the love put into this gift and appreciate it as much.

I called his main office this morning and said, "Hi, this is Veronica, Jack's wife.  He turns the big "5-0" today.  I want the world to know it, and celebrate it with him."

We all have the power to be happy.  We have it now, we all do.  Happiness is not something you buy, some thing you have to be able to afford, it is FREE, it is something that already exists inside of you.

Choose happy....it makes life so much sweeter.  And if you have some happy to spare, send it in a wish to my husband Jack.  He has a great smile...I would like to see it more often.  :)

I will update with a photo of Jack this evening when he gets home from work.  We are planning a nice dinner and an after dinner bike ride.

My photos of the day...

My version of a "Happy Meal"...

 "Yes Miss Lilly?"
 "We choose happy!"
 "Yay!  Looking at your goofy smile, it is impossible to be anything but happy."

Music I am listening to today...The Afters



Random Link of the Day...Puppy Dreams

Until next time..."Happiness is a choice."

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Love,