Recipe for Happiness

I played hooky yesterday. I admit it. I was so engrossed in the book I was reading I just didn't think I could put it down without first finishing it. In the end, I fell asleep before the end and I didn't get to blog.

I don't feel a bit guilty because I know how important it is to have a balanced life. I'm not saying mine is perfectly balanced, but that is what I strive for. I like to read. Make that LOVE to read. It is my passion, and part of the secret recipe for happiness is that you have to have something to be passionate about. It can be anything. Some people are passionate about art, insects or cake. For some it is a lifelong passion. Others jump from one thing to another. Some people concentrate all their energies on one specific thing. Others are busy with all sorts of interests. It doesn't matter. What counts is that you have something to be passionate about, something to get you off the couch and out the door, or at least out of bed. Something you want to pursue. Motivation to live.

I am the kind of person to jump from one thing to another. I have been into a lot of things from scuba diving to scrapbooking to yoga. I do also have interests that have been pretty constant since childhood. I am passionate about my children, and I always have loved children. I waited 23 years just to get pregnant. I couldn't wait! I am also passionate about animals. I believe we were put on this earth to take care of them, both the wild and the domestic. I have an affectionate cat who sleeps with me and a cute bunny to entertain me by wiggling his little white nose. :o)

Music is also a passion of mine, especially live music, and I have had the same favorite band, Blue Rodeo, since grade six. I remember when I was young, we were constantly singing in the car. Our parents, especially our dad, taught us so many Hungarian folk songs, and when we came to Canada we would sing along with Bryan Adams on the radio, even though we didn't understand a word of the lyrics. I wish I could make music but I can't even sing well. The only thing musical about me are my ears.

Another thing that I have always loved is writing, hence the blog. :o) It goes hand-in-hand with reading and I do a lot of that. I always have. I remember lying on my bed in grade one, before we came to Canada, reading Little House in the Big Woods in Hungarian. A chapter book in grade one! Later, when I FINALLY got my own room in grade six, I would pick a book and read 'till all hours of the night, and complain if someone woke me up before noon. Actually, I think I did that even before I got my own room, when I shared with my sister. I remember we had a bunk bed... but now I am getting sidetracked!

Last night I must have read until eleven or so, but at that point I could hardly keep my eyes open, so I called it a day. With three children, I can't afford to stay up all night reading because I do have to be functional in the morning to get everyone out the door in time. But I do read, in moderate amounts, and I enjoy it immensely. I am surprised (and disappointed, to tell the truth) that my daughter says she doesn't like reading. She does read, though. She takes so many books out of the library, but she says it is the subjects that interest her, not the reading. She is into very strange subjects too, like 9/11 and the Titanic. She also reads a lot about Islam, go figure.

I do try to read in front of my children, to be a good model. Unfortunately, that often backfires because it is perceived as being selfish and ignoring the children. That saddens me. I do so look forward to the day when we can all sit on a dock by a quiet lake and read together. We'll see... In the meantime, my boys do appreciate it when I read to them at bedtime, so that's something.

But this post isn't about parenting skills. It is about having something to be passionate about. Something to inspire you, something to pursue. I truly believe that for a person to be happy, they have to have things that interest them. So think about it. What are you passionate about?