At church I’m now called to team-teach Sunday school to the four year olds. (We’ll see how this goes! But I see they’re mostly really surprisingly good kids, and I’m mostly a big kid, and the other teacher is mature, so we should be fine). Part of the first lesson said to mention times I was really happy, so I got thinking and listing, and thought I may as well record it here.
Times I’ve felt really happy
-getting donkey Kong country and nhl 95 for Super Nintendo
-getting contra 3 for Super Nintendo
-getting battle tech toys
-getting a new beast wars toy that my mom had stashed away
-remembering good times with BYU roommates (the times themselves were a bit stressful with studies and nerve racking with possibly hundreds of first dates)
-Missionary Training Center singing “praise to the man”
-going on Nanaimo road trips with Ben Cyr
-EFY with cousin John broucke (basically a type of Bible Camp)
-testimony meetings at the end of all youth conferences (other Bible Camps)
-French toast breakfasts at the Sandersons for early morning seminary
-Celeste and Amanda doing well after birth (it was pretty intense)
-ditto Danielle (not quite as much as with Celeste because I was a lot more nervous about what to do with a newborn)
-wedding day (couldn’t stop having a moronic grin all day long)
-Skype chats with Amanda while we were dating
-visits with Amanda while dating in Utah or back home
-getting text messages from Amanda while dating
-getting cookies in the mail, and a magical Leopluradon cake from Amanda
-released from being elders quorum president (a big mixed too tbh)… I was pretty relieved; but it was good for me
-going back to my mission to find families still active
-Saunders family road trips and kids are asleep (otherwise I’m nervous!)
-riding carousel with kids
-playing with kids
-West Edmonton mall with kids and as a kid
-visiting the temple
-WordCamp Seattle when meeting folks (although also nervous) and giving a fairly successful presentation
-completing making something cool at Event Espresso (this is when I first finish development and hand off for testing; not actual shipping, at which point there is usually a long tail of hearing about and hunting down bugs etc).
-last Sunday on mission in a ward with investigators present and recent converts there too,and a sense of relief (because it had been work)
-Celeste telling a knock knock joke, or pretty well any new work or phrase
-date nights with Amanda going to the keg or me mikes and then a movie
-video game birthday parties with friends or brothers
…I’ll add more as I think of them and it’s not 2am…
But reflecting on it, I realize I’ve often been happy because I got something or things were going well. Sometimes it was actually “excitement” (eg, when I got a new video game as a child).
I think “contentment” is probably more what I should be looking for- that feeling that, regardless of whether things are going as I’d like or not, let’s me know I’m on the right track. Maybe a better word for it would be a clear conscience. I think it’s much easier to have these small happy moments when you overall have a clear conscience.
Anyways, my understanding of happiness, like this post, is a work in progress.
Similar Stuff I've Written
Gratitude journal after 2017 Oregon RV trip
Our favourite textures
Video Game Testimonial
Celeste's first temple trip
Great Wolf Lodge Trip 2018
Cresswell Drive Home Memory Dump
Gratitude Journal October 2018
My Experience of Parenthood
Primary Lesson: I can choose the right
Powered by YARPP.
