"Just the start"

            So, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about writing a blog. I tell myself it would be good to write down all the “little” thoughts that I have throughout the day about my life. (Mostly because I’m pretty sure I’m losing my memory rapidly these days). But, then I also remind myself how terrible I am at making time for things and decide I will never follow through on keeping a blog. But! On my way to work this morning, I came up with a super awesome name for my blog and then just started thinking about all the things I could talk about. In a way, I think I want to remind myself about the things in life that make me happy and I feel like God is giving me these things to share with others for their own happiness.

            I’ve been in a dark place before so I know how tough it can be to get out of that place but, I also know that I never want to go back to being unhappy. I know it’s hard to get out of those dark places or period in your life because you feel like it won’t end. We get so caught up in all the bad things that are happening that we get consumed by it and fail to notice even the little things in life we should be thankful for.

            We tend to look for some “grand’ event, happening, person or whatever it may be in life to make us happy so we forget the little things that happen every day, every hour that can give us comfort. I’ve lived the past few years of my life that way. I was sad and generally not excited about life because I felt like God needed to give me some BIG event in my life to make me happy. Wrong, Jillian! This past year I’ve prayed everyday these specific words “help us find happiness in everything you have given us”. I pray every morning when I leave the house, I sit in the car, say my prayer and then I’m on my way! I’m almost ALWAYS running five or ten minutes late so it takes true dedication to do this everyday. I’m working to make prayer a priority in my life no matter how crazy and hectic my schedule is. After all this praying, I figured out that you can find happiness in the smallest things; all you have to do is let them make you happy.

            So here goes the first “little” thing that makes me happy on a daily basis during the work week. There is a church on White Station that a man stands at EVERY day (rain or shine) and waves at the cars that are driving by. He’s always on the opposite corner from me and is waving at the cars coming from the other direction, but for some reason every time I see him, I seem to smile. He takes time out of his morning to try and make everyone else’s morning happy. This is just a wave; it’s so funny and weird that it makes me so happy! See… I told you “It’s the little things”!

            If we are looking around all day for things that make us happy, it only seems right that we do something everyday to make other people happy. It sounds stupid, but I try to smile and say “HI!” to literally every person I see. You can ask anyone that knows me; I do this everywhere I go, literally. It doesn’t matter who they are, what kind of mood they’re in, or where I see them. I just smile and say Hi! (Just a warning, it might take some people time to perfect doing this. It could come off as creepy in some situations so proceed with caution.)

            I had four flights this week and met each of the four people who sat on the plane next to me: Steve, Scott, Ryan and Lisa. On top of that, I know about their families and what they do for a living. Some people like to use the word “networking” for this but I like to just think that its four more people in the world I know. (Modern Family reference: “I feel like a new friend is a gift”-Cam) This just makes for a more pleasant flight and its always great hearing about someone else’s experiences in life. No one person is going to be able to experience everything there is to offer in life. I figure the more we listen to others about their experiences the more we can get out of our own lives.

            So, go out everyday looking for little things that make you smile or put you in a better place in life. Sometimes even trying to make someone else’s day bright will end up make your day brighter. Look for new blog posts soon because I know that I’m going to have a “Jillian” more things to come!

PS- Mom this is a blog, you don’t get to critique grammar on it J