Give me a CAPITAL "V"

There are few things in life that unite us all. I am convinced that one of those unifications is the desire to be validated. To know someone out there cares about you, loves you, respects you, trusts you and understands you. This need to be validated can come in all sorts of different packages big or small. It feels good when your boss pats you on the back and says" Good Job" or "That was a job well done". Or when a baby gets his or her needs met because of you. Or you are appreciated on any level for the things you do whether it be a spouse, a family member, or a significant other that says or makes a gesture of thankfulness. Just the other day a very good friend of mine commented on one of my posts and understood where I was coming from. That email from my friend was all it took to make me feel validated. To feel like I was worth something and contributing to this world in some small way by letting my voice be heard. We all have that desire for validation it doesn't matter if you have climbed up the corporate ladder or you are on the bottom rung. You still want and need to be validated. I suppose the most important aspect of validation comes from a crush, a significant other, or a spouse. When the affection you have for someone is returned there is no greater validation on this Earth. The point of this post is to respect other people and their feelings. Remember the old adage that still rings true "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you".

NOW AND THEN

The summer season always puts me in a nostalgic mood. Smell is the sense that has the strongest compacity for recall. If I close my eyes and concentrate, I can smell clorine. For me clorine is a very comforting smell. It brings up a hundred different memories inside of me. I recall the carefree days of summer fondly and even now I feel more like a kid than during any other season with the exception of Christmas in the wintertime.
After all it was in the summer that I learned to jump off the diving board into my uncle's arms and consciously thought about trust for the first time. It was in the clorine water that gravity didn't seem to matter when I could float on top of it all and feel a true sense of freedom. The sun mixed with water can result in a pretty nasty sunburn, but it also produces a magical quality.
It's not everyday that a girl learns that she is going to be a big sister for the first time. My Daddy informed me that my stepmother was pregnant and then I raced off to jump in the pool. It was safe in there and maybe subconsciously I knew the birth of my little brother would force me to grow up and I wanted to savor every last minute of my right to be a child.
Just the other day my best friend Heather and I were at the pool. The summer really seems to bring out the kids in us. Now we get in the water when the heat becomes unbearable sitting in our lounges laying out. We gracefully enter the water by the steps on the shallow end of the pool complaining about the temperature of the water and forgetting the days when we made ripple waves doing cannonballs. Our hair is all pulled up on the top of our heads so as not to get clorine in our hair which would diminish its unnatural color, and we wade about all grown up. The days of doing handstands, front, and back flips have long since gone. Suddenly, a bumble bee starts buzzing around Heather's head. She swats at it in an attempt to make it flea, but its no use. It's like Heather decided to wash her hair in honey. The bee kept circling around her head. She was screaming like a little girl and then she ducked under the water. She emerged from the water, her hair all dishevled. I started laughing hysterically inspite of myself. I guess you just had to be there, but it was a hilarious sight. Then the bee came back for round two and decided to take us both on. Our hands went straight up in unison fending off the bee. We both ducked under water as we screamed like scaredy cats. When we surfaced I exclaimed "that was a little girl moment". We couldn't stop laughing at being so juvenile and jovial. It was a great moment. Another great memory to tuck away with the millions of memories that can only be made in the summertime. The greatest part is that I shared yet another memory with my best friend. I think about all the good times I have experienced as a child especially in the summertime every now and then.

HAPPINESS

Many intellectuals such as poets, literary geniuses, and even scientists have tried to define love over the years. Happiness is yet another concept that is hard to define. Think for a minute.
What makes you happy? The color yellow is supposed to elicit the emotion depending on what mood you are in. Exercise releases endorphins that have been scientifically proven to make you happy.

Contentment is another word associated with happiness. If you are content does that mean that you are happy? Contentment means that you are satisfied with the status quo. You may not have everything you want in life, but you are content with what you have at this point in time, but it does not necessarily mean that you are happy. There are some people that spend a lifetime trying to achieve happiness. Others believe that it is unattainable so why try.

Society is under the impression that materialism can make you happy. The same rule applies for happiness as it does for love. Money can't buy it. So what can make us happy? It seems to me that people look at happiness as a goal for their lives when happiness shouldn't be a goal. The goals that you set for yourself and achieve can make you happy, but happiness really isn't an achievement.

No wonder there are so many unhappy people including myself in the world we've been looking at happiness through a dim bulb when we should be seeing it through the brightest light. Happiness unlike love is just within our reach. Love comes to us freely as a gift. On the other hand, happiness is a decision we make for ourselves. Do you want to be happy or unhappy? The choice is clearly yours.