Something good is always happening to somebody.

That’s the way this world turns: somewhere on the planet, somewhere in my country, somewhere in my neighborhood, somewhere in my house…..something good is probably happening to somebody.

Good things happening make us happy.

It’s not a stretch to imagine that I’m happiest when good things are happening to me.

We like it when we get, or we do, or….we are.…something good.

I think that sometimes I like it when I’m (even) something better.

Something better than what I was the day or year before….and, maybe even more, when I’m something better than someone else.

I keep that smug happiness over supposed superiority under my hat.

That’s a pretty gross place to find happiness.

Last night, I was thinking about the joy we feel when something good happens to us, and I wondered how much better my life could be if I could figure out a way to feel that same kind of joy when good things happened to other people.

Not necessarily only the people in my small orb, either.

What if I could get that same pleasure out of everyone’s achievements and accomplishments?

(And, if the achievements are giving me pleasure, what if I could have some part in helping other people achieve? That would push my pleasure over the top! That would be a double dose of joy….aiding and abetting accomplishment…..and appreciating what I’d helped them achieve at the same time. How cool would that be? The least I could do is never be an impediment to anyone else’s achievement. Maybe that’s something to shoot for? I should guard myself against being a discourager or stumbling block…. )

Something good is always happening to somebody….and if something good is always happening, and I could celebrate the good that’s already happening around me all the time, I would never run out of joy.

And… good follows joy.

What I expect is usually what I get.

My life is better when I appreciate.

I don’t really know how to do that all the time, though.

Sometimes, the things that happen to other people that are good become a fulcrum for disappointment.

I see good things happen to other people and wonder, “why can’t I have….or be….that?”

That’s a joy killer.

You can’t compare and progress at the same time.

A person can’t be disappointed and feel joy simultaneously.

That sounds like one of those “oil and water” situations.

Good things are happening all around me.

When I notice them, I feel joy.

When I appreciate the good, I feel joy.

I want joy.

Maybe I should work at expanding my zone of appreciation….and get more joy?

What’s so hard to understand about that?