Out of the Mouths of Babes

One of the many times that I was evacuated from the path of a potentially deadly hurricane with my three very large teenage sons and two cats, the only hotel that accepted pets was an expensive luxury resort. When we arrived, we were surrounded by luxury cars and limos. The perplexed valet could not figure out how to work the (broken) power locks on my vintage SUV. I proceeded to crawl into the back seat to unlock the doors. Not at all drawing room style. My SUV is 13 years old and boasts nearly  300,000 on the  odometer. What parent of three boys in her right mind would want a nice car? I make an effort to live below my means which includes avoiding car payments and debt of all kind in favor of saving for investments and emergencies.
After we were happily settled in our room, one of the boys commented on the poor valet who tried to do his job with dignity although our car would have made the Beverly Hillbillies proud.

My son then sagely summed up the situation and stated, "The reason we have the money to stay in this hotel without going into debt is BECAUSE we have an old car." Touché.

A Cat is Always on the Wrong Side of the Door

The cat yowls to come in but once inside, decides that the place he just left is more desirable and proceeds to yowl to get out. There is currently a lot of research concerning hedonistic adaptation. In English, this roughly means that although a change can make us happy at first, we will eventually return to our baseline level of happiness. If we have something pleasant daily, it becomes habitual and taken for granted.
A new job, city or relationship is intoxicating, but the only way to continue enjoying it is to improve our baseline ability to search for and appreciate the benefits our lives currently offer instead of thinking that the proverbial grass would be so much greener if we could kick down the fence and be somewhere else with someone new.   We work so arduously to achieve a goal then quickly forget to value what we’ve gained and have to start all over again, like Sisyphus toiling to push the boulder up the hill only to watch it roll back to the bottom.  
Einstein understood the need to seek magic in the ordinary:  “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

Naturally Happy

It's hard to be grumpy when surrounded by nature. If you pay close attention, you'll notice that the wind makes a different sound in each type of tree. I absolutely love the wind. On windy days the whole world seems so alive. The trees seem to be dancing!
Water makes a variety of music depending on if it's part of a fountain or waterfall. The sounds of nature are drowned out by the noises of man. Make a point of listening for the sounds that are widely tuned out including thunder, rain, waves, birds and insects. Nature sounds are in meditation music for a reason.

Happy With Less

There was a time when most people cared very much about what the general public thought of them.  People felt the need to have large, expensive, and therefor, impressive houses and cars. What I really love about our current culture is that it is considered cool to have less. Instead of being viewed as inferior, a person who chooses a smaller house or decides to keep his old car, is now considered environmentally responsible.  A financially modest lifestyle is now something to proudly embrace instead of reluctantly tolerate.
Who wants to be owned by her house or be responsible for loading up the landfills?  As my Aunt says, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."