Happiness is...

"You seem like you just breathe and get along, I do not know if you are happy.. or if there is any sense of happiness or joy in your life."

That's what she said to me.

I've heard from quite a few people that I really did seem like that for quite a while. I won't deny that when I read her mail this morning, it brought tears to my eyes. Why? Because a while ago, it was true. It wasn't that my life was devoid of happiness; I just wasn't able to look beyond the sadness that held on to me for close to a year.

But now I read what she has to say, and I want to tell her that I Am happy.

I find happiness everyday. In my perfectly dysfunctional family, in the things my friends say and do, in the faces of 24 kids, each of whom holds a special place in my heart. I find happiness in the lyrics of a song, in the words of a book, in a scene from a movie. I find happiness in every nudge of Pepper's muzzle against my hand. I find happiness in long drives with the windows rolled down.

I find happiness in all the little things in my life that I've come to realize are the things that count. And there is much to be happy about.