Happiness

I tried for many years to keep everyone around me happy.  I decided that if everyone around me was happy then every thing would be okay.  But what I found out was I could not keep everyone happy all the time.  And what more, I was making myself a nervous wreck.  Many, many hard lessons later, I decided that happiness was dependent on the individual, not primarily on anything I did or did not do.  In fact, my efforts often wound up making it worse instead of better.  Finally, finally, after many, many hardships, discussions, and some pretty nasty depressive episodes, I learned a hard truth.  I wasn't capable of making anyone else completely happy.  And it wasn't my job to do so either.

Now I do my best to love them, help out when I can and feel led, and pray for them when I can't.  It wasn't easy, nor is it always easy now.  It was and still is one of the hardest things my fixit nature can do.  But, I have have found it to be rewarding.