The famous quote attributed to Alexander Chalmers is "The three grand essentials of happiness are: Something to do, someone to love, and something to hope for." This is so true for me, and it's something my husband and I talk about and remind ourselves of often. It's especially helpful on the bad days, or during difficult phases of life. Right now my family is facing a tough time, so I keep coming back to these words to get myself through each day.
Luckily, I live a really lovely life, so these three "grand essentials" of happiness are easy to come by. Today I'm going to share how I think about this quote and use it as a sort of tool for positive affirmation. Rather than going by the original quote, I think about it like this to keep it simple: Something to do, someone to love, and something to look forward to.
In my life, there's always something to do, this one is definitely not a problem. This past weekend we attended a festival, celebrated a birthday, squeezed in a quick day date, made treats for preschool and had my in laws over to watch football and chow down on tailgate food. Then of course, there are the daily 'to-do's', like that little thing called work, and paying bills, and doctor appointments, and swim lessons, and dance lessons, and dishes and laundry, and on and on and on.
Someone to love is easy in my world. I love my husband, my daughter, my parents, my siblings, and their families, my in-laws, and all of my friends. Love is all around!
Something to look forward to used to be something I struggled with. I used to think I need something big to look forward to, like a grand vacation or special event. Then I taught myself to look forward to the little things. Saturday morning snuggles, Thursday night Grey's Anatomy with a glass of pino, Sunday morning worship. Sometimes, I rely on my senses. For example, I look forward the smell Thanksgiving pie, and look forward to tasting that first bite. I look forward to that feeling of slipping into my softest sweatpants and slippers after a long day at work. I look forward to seeing my beautiful child smile widely as she throws her head back in laughter, and I look forward to hearing that sweet, silly little laugh. There are all kinds of things to look forward to if you open your mind.
Today, I would love for you to think about those three grand essentials to happiness. Something to do, someone to love, and something to look forward to (or hope for). Once you sit down and really think about it intentionally, I hope you'll realize that all the grand essentials to happiness are right in front of you, you just have to reach out and embrace them.
Have a great weekend!
Melissa
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