Little Bits and Pieces of Happiness

“I have to tell you the best thing,” my daughter said the other night, smiling. She’d just gotten home from youth group and finished brushing her teeth and putting her pajamas on.

I sat down on the edge of her bed. “You know how happiness doesn’t come to you all at once, and it really comes to you in little bits and pieces?” she asked. I nodded, instantly struck by the wisdom of her statement. Her eyes lit up. “Well, I had one of those bits and pieces tonight.” “What happened?” I asked. “When Isabelle’s mom was driving us home, my favorite song came on the radio and we turned it up really loud and Isabelle and I started singing at the top of our lungs.” She beamed. “How fun.” I laughed. “Yeah,” she nodded, laughing too. “I felt sooo happy.” “I’m glad,” I told her, tucking her in, happy that she was happy.

I kissed her goodnight, and left her room. And, for a long time after that, I thought about what she said. Because she was right. Sometimes we expect happiness to come all at once… in a promotion, a relationship, a success, an achievement.

But, really, happiness is all around us every day, in little bits and pieces… In our favorite song coming on the radio, in an answered prayer, in a conversation with a friend, in the trees blooming in our yard, in our kids doing the dishes without being asked, in the sunshine coming through the bedroom window, in perfectly ripe tomatoes, or even in a daughter’s story about her own bits and pieces of happiness.

Genny Heikka is a mom, author, blogger, book reviewer and coffee lover. Stop by her blog and share a cup!