Selma by Jutta Bauer

In April I found myself traveling in the backseat of a gorgeous Mercedes and desperately trying to keep the winding road from dumping my stomach contents onto the lap of the always brilliant, and ever so handsome, Chuck Wendig. It was a difficult task that was made much easier when my backseat travel companion admitted that he was suffering from car sickness, too. I don't know... maybe the idea of us both hurling our lunch made the possibility less... embarrassing? Or maybe it was because I realized that the author that I was so anxious to meet, and so obviously intimidated by as to not say more than three words to after our initial greeting, was normal... just like me. Well, normal with a huge side of brilliance, that is.

It was a memorable car ride that led to a conversation about blogging and writing and remembering why we're doing the things we're doing, and how sometimes when things get crazy it's important to stop and go back to the basics - whatever that may be for you - and reclaim yourself.

I remember sitting in the backseat of the car and listening to my friends Kari, Stephen, and Chuck talking about the simple things that have them doing what they're doing and remembering what made them so... *gasp*  happy doing it in the first place!

It made me think about...

Happiness.

Flash forward to Mother's Day while I'm sitting in church on a beautiful Sabbath day listening to my wonderful friend reading a children's book as part of her Mother's Day gift to the women in our congregation  just after she's shared with us a personal time in her life when she wasn't so happy, and how she lost an entire decade of her life just by living day-to-day. An entire decade! Gone.

And I understood...

Having lost an entire decade of my life, too, I know how easy it is to get stuck in a routine; living life the same way day after day after day. And there really isn't anything wrong with that if... you're happy.

Take the story of Selma for instance...

After a little red fox decides he just can't take it anymore, he heads to the wise ram to find the answer to happiness.  The wise ram then proceeds to tell the story of Selma. Each morning Selma would rise and eat some grass, play with her kids, exercise, eat some more grass,  and talk with Mrs. Miller in the evening before falling asleep each night. When she was asked what she would do if she had more time... Selma says the exact same thing. When asked what she would do if she had a million dollars?  You guessed it; she says the same thing...

It's a simple lesson, really. Happiness is what you want it to be.

Which can be difficult... trust me, I know.

But it is attainable.

So, if I were to follow Selma's example- I would wake up each morning and eat some cupcakes, play with my beagles, exercise, spend some time with my handsome spouse eating cupcakes, and have a little chat with my twitter family before falling asleep each night.

For some odd reason this book makes me smile. It's so simple, and the drawings inside are so cute. It's a feel good book that I plan to send to some friends... just to thank them for helping to make my life more happy.  This world would be awfully lonely and dark without them...

And to help you find that road to happiness... I'd suggest you start with eating cupcakes! Or another favorite food. Like... tacos. Or... cheese fries.  Maybe even a bacon cheeseburger? I'll let you decide. But if cupcakes are your thing, you can find a delicious Lemon Cupcake Recipe HERE!