"If you want to be happy, be." (Leo Tolstoy)

I have to admit, I really had almost given up.  I thought that Lindsey and Logan were going to fight forever and that nothing that I did was going to make a difference.  I had tried and said everything to fix their relationship, but nothing worked and I was very discouraged.  Since last week when I said that I was going to split them up in school if they didn’t start being friends, they have been sleeping in the same room.  Lindsey slept in Logan’s room for the first five nights.  They had their alarm clocks side-by-side, woke up together in a pleasant mood, and there has been no arguing about the bathroom, who gets which bowl of cereal (yes, can you believe that’s true?), no griping at each other for anything.  It’s been wonderful but I’ve been waiting for the bottom to drop out.  This morning I went into Lindsey’s room to wake them up (Logan was a guest in her room last night) and they were both on the floor in sleeping bags, Lindsey was snuggling with Logan.   Reporting live from Lindsey’s bedroom…..Hell has officially frozen over. 

After I woke them up I walked downstairs to the computer and thanked God for this miracle; I turned on the computer, opened my email, and read a forward from my friend.  It was a cute little story about God making a tiny bamboo plant.  It was small, flimsy, had to weather many storms, but the moral of the story was that all along he was growing roots to be stronger in the end.  The email said “Don’t ever give up.”  Do you ever wonder if God is up there chuckling?  He really sews things together so perfectly sometimes; it makes me wonder how people don’t see the tiny miracles in their everyday life.  To add to this beautiful little story, I was in Pilates on Tuesday and talked to a woman who had twins.  (I talk to everybody.)  She said that her twins fought too and that it’s normal.  She said “It’s just them strengthening their bond.”  Growing roots I wonder?  She said that when twins fight it’s like marriage.  If you aren’t fighting then there’s something wrong.  You have to fight (productively) to change and grow together and that’s how you make it to the finish line.  Fighting strengthens your bond.  This is why I love people, the surprises.  Sometimes they tell you exactly what you need to hear. 

As for the sweetie-pies Dylan and Carson, I taught them how to say “Two” a couple of weeks ago and we practiced a little yesterday.  I say “How old are you?”  Dylan says “two” with a big, chubby smile. Carson says “I twooooooo” and holds out his two index fingers and scrunches up his lips.  They both hold out their index fingers, which means that they understand what the number two is and they aren’t just copying me.   I tried to teach them the peace sign for saying two, but Carson couldn’t get his fingers right so he started using two hands.  Dylan copied him.  Pretty smart for two babies not yet two! 

Ok, so I love Oprah.  I love her show, her network, and the fact that she helps so many people every single day.  She came from poverty, had a brother who died of AIDS, a sister who died of a drug-overdose, she was molested, you get the point—she overcame a lot.  She is living proof that education should be our top priority and that we should never give up on a child.  She’s definitely a diamond in the rough and it makes me think about how many of them are out there.  And for the record, she isn’t as big as everyone thinks.  I was on her show (front row, audience, 2003) and she looks like everyone else walking down the street.  I didn’t realize that I was on TV until my friend Michelle asked me months later “Were you on the Oprah show?”  YES!  I was!  They had me sit in the front row because they thought my skirt was adorable.  It was a live show, Condoleezza Rice was interviewed via satellite and I didn’t tape it.  (It was before Tivo but after VCRs.)  Before the show they tell you not to scratch your nose, pick your teeth, and do anything embarrassing.  Pretty funny.

The reason I am talking about Oprah today is because I want to briefly write about yesterday’s show.  It was about being happy.  Goldie Hawn was a guest.  They said that up to 50% of your happiness is genetic, so I have reason to thank me parents because I am one of those annoying people who wakes up chattering with a smile on my face before coffee.  People really seem to hate it.  But don’t get depressed.  They said that even if you didn’t inherit natural happiness, you can do things to stimulate it.  Breathing deeply for ten minutes allows oxygen to reach your brain which makes you happier.  Having more sex makes you happier—Oprah says that a man must have conducted that study.  There you go men, now you can say “But the more you have the happier you’ll be!”  They also said that for a family of four you only need an income of 75K to be happy.  After that, you’re just as happy as someone with a million dollars.  I believe it too.  I have never needed money to be happy.  I’ve been happy in really bad situations because I have always known that stuff is just stuff, and I have always been able to see the sunny side of a situation.  Happiness is about so much more than what you have.  You know the expression “Money can’t buy you happiness”?  Well, I think it does buy happiness to a certain extent, but after your needs are met, I don’t think it makes a difference.  The show says that this is true.  I know someone who brags about her newest splurge every time I see her.  First of all, it’s so extremely tacky that I am embarrassed for her.  I think “Does she think that no one notices?”  Second, she isn’t happy.  It’s written all over her face.  She is filling her life with things and that’s not ever going to be enough.  They said on the show that a new item loses its luster after nine months.  In other words, it can bring you happiness, but only for nine months.  I feel sorry for people that get caught in this cycle, filling their holes with items.  I want to say “Are you bringing these items to Heaven with you?”  No.  And unless you’re a practicing Egyptian and you’re planning on being buried in a pyramid, they’ll probably wind up in a garage sale one day.  I enjoy new things, but I know it’s not the whole enchilada, therefore I can go without. 

Those of you reading who went to high school with me…..remember one of the senior superlatives that I won?  “Most Likely to Marry for Money?”  HA!  That’s so not me!  How embarrassing would that be to marry for money?  How sad are people who do that?  That’s not me at all!  I had a boyfriend in high school that was “rich” and I couldn’t have cared less, but I guess people didn’t know me very well and they gave me that awful superlative.  I’ve always said “I’d rather be with someone I’m crazy in love with and living in a shack than someone I can tolerate in a mansion.”  But that’s just me, and I feel sorry for women who do the opposite because they are always going to have to fill in a void.  I guess that’s where “the pool guy” comes in. 

Here’s the link for a quiz. “Are you Happy?”   There are a lot of interesting facts at the end of the quiz. 

http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Poll-Are-You-Happy

I’ll leave with another quote……

“Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important”,  Janet Lane.  (This reminds me of the song in “Annie”.  You’re never fully dressed without a smile!)