How Can I Be So Happy?

I often get asked how I can be so happy through all of this. It is simple, I am grateful!

"I love to laugh
Loud and long and clear
I love to laugh

It's getting worse every year
The more I laugh, 

The more I fill with glee
And the more the glee
The more I'm a merrier me,
The more I'm a merrier me"

I Love to Laugh from Mary Poppins

My ring tone on my phone is "I'm So Happy". We need to live each day of each month of each year with a grateful heart. When we cease to be grateful, we cease to grow, we cease to be happy.  Men and women were made to have joy. 

“If you want to find happiness, find gratitude.” 

Steve Maraboli

• I'm grateful my mystery disease has been diagnosed.
• I am grateful for every good day, hour or minute I have and I do have them. 
• I'm grateful for all the littles and big grandchicklets, my husband, children, family and friends. 
• I'm grateful for modern medicine that keeps me going. 
• I'm grateful for hugs, music, sunny, rainy and any day I wake up.
• I'm grateful for Missouri Star Quilt and tutorials teach me how to make quilts. 
• Family History is a passion of mine, finding those elusive ancestors! I’m so grateful for all of the tools we have at our fingertips to find them.
• I'm grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and the comfort He brings me.

I am grateful for grateful people. Grateful people don’t expect that life owes them anything that they haven’t rightfully worked for. They have no preconditions to be happy, they know that you can’t have a rainbow, without a storm. They have hope, think straight, and are flexible. They make no excuses. You can never be upset with someone who is truly grateful. I would do anything for a truly grateful person. I just can’t resist them! They give but expect nothing in return. There are no conditions on their service. A grateful person realizes that all that they are, have and can be comes from God. He is the one that should get the utmost gratitude. We must all learn to be more grateful, practice it, and give credit to Him from whom all blessings come.

A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness. 

It is an expression of humility. 

It is a foundation for the development of such virtues 

as prayer, faith, courage, contentment, 

happiness, love, and well-being.

-:- James E. Faust -:-

I am always ready to joke. "Every time you laugh you just extended
your life by a day." I have no idea where that thought came from, I may have made it up but I totally believe it. I send a joke to my sweet little mom as often as possible so we can keep her around longer. Laughing with my wee granddaughter is so fun. The more I laugh the more she does. The sound of my cracked laugh doesn't bother her. Even though my throat is severely constricted, I absolutely love to laugh. It has morphed however. I laugh until I honk, then cough, gasp, honk again it is a crazy circle. I love it when you are laughing harder at the people laughing than you did at the original joke. 

"A sense of humor is needed armor. 

Joy in one’s heart and some laughter 

on one’s lips is a sign that the person 

down deep has a pretty good grasp of life."

-:- Hugh Sidey -:-

I love this song. I have so many blessings that counting them is a joy. Like the song says; "So amid the conflict, whether great or small, Do not be discouraged; God is over all. Count your many blessings; angels will attend, Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end."

Road Tripping in Zion National Park

“Humor is the great thing, the saving thing after all.
The minute it crops up, all our hardnesses yield,
all our irritations, and resentments flit away,
and a sunny spirit takes their place.”
-:- Mark Twain -:-

This is how my husband and I take selfies at Zion National Park. We take our photos very seriously.

My plan for the future is to go to the National Institute of Health (NIH) Relapsing Polychondritis Study. The NIH has an incredible doctor, Dr. Marcella Ferrara that has Relapsing Polychondritis herself and she is heading up a study on the disease. They keep us for a week and determine what my doctors need to do for me. They do DNA test to see if we share any DNA markers. I sure appreciate all the work she has done on this rare disease. I have sent in my paper work to her team and I know that they take people in order of the severeness of their disease, and availability. It could be a while for me. This study is supported by Race for RP.