Life in a box… Happiness

Someone tasked me this week with identifying something that truly makes me happy.

It’s been on my mind for awhile, and I’ve been forcing myself to try and think of something. Something that is like an “A-Ha! Oh yes that is obviously something that makes me happy” thing.

It wasn’t until Friday night and I was kind of just laying in bed that I realized what truly makes me happy. You see, earlier that evening we went to dinner as a family and before going inside I took all my kids phones away. So, the poor kids were forced to interact in real life. (Yikes)

My kids enjoy poking fun at me a lot. Mostly because I’m bald, and when they get going boy they roast me good. But, I am the king roaster so it’s on like Donkey Kong.

I identified that what makes me happy are all the small little moments in life that add up. The not so obvious ones that you miss when you aren’t looking for them.

Moments like my kids laughing and poking fun at me at the dinner table. Dropping my kids off at school each day. That little 1 minute window from when we pull into the parking lot and we say “I love you” and they get out of the car. When I’m picking my daughters up from work, or taking them in on Saturday morning. Each time I get a drink and I blow the straw paper at the kid next to me. Or when we give each other little hugs in the front seat. Maybe after school listening to them play their instrument terribly. Or when they giggle about something in the room next to me.

Although they don’t seem like much, they really are huge moments. They are the things I will remember and miss the most when my kids are grown up and gone. When they don’t need me anymore to take them to work or pick them up is the day I start to lose that sense of being a full time dad. Being the person they need for things, rely on, is always there for them, and being able to be there for them. To laugh with them and kiss the top of their head after a long day.

Those moments in time make me happy. I wish I could record them and put them in a keepsake box to pull out one day when I’m feeling lonely. I don’t ever want to lose these moments. They are the things that make me the man I want to be for them. The reason I do what I do. It’s those little blips on the radar that I look forward to each day. I may not always show it or how much it means to me, but I secretly love those little things more than anything in the world.

It’s not skydiving, wood working, running, or lifting weights…. No! None of those things will ever bring the same happiness as seeing your kid after a long day, and getting to say “hey buddy, hey sweetheart! Did you miss me?” Because the answer is yes! Yes I did actually miss you. It’s hearing about my kids day, even though I don’t know what she is talking about or who. But, just being there and listening to her.

That’s what happiness is to me.