People keep saying that happiness is not a place. It's an attitude, a lifestyle or a mindset. I agree, to an extent. For me though, happiness has a lot to do with my surroundings. Not just the place (as those "happy-place-is-not-a-place-haters" would surely remind me), but the whole picture. Being surrounded by good friends, that's a happy place. Doing something that you enjoy, happy place. Being able to do the things you enjoy, meaning having the time, means and conditions to do the things you love, that's happiness.
Well, after three years of living in Memphis, which was something like the anti-happy-place for me, I've finally made it back to my home of choice: South Florida. Just in time, because I had almost forgotten how much I loved the place. Back in my old neighborhood, Florida really makes it easy for me to be happy. Or as I would put it, Florida will give you on any given day an opportunity to start the day out better than a lot of other places. If for no other reason than the weather alone.
First of all, most of the time the sun greets you when you wake up, the palm trees, in my case the lake in the back of my house. The first thing I do here is look outside and breathe, thinking, how nice is this??? For some reason though, even the rain seems better here than other places. Weird, I'm telling you! I don't know what it is, maybe it's the "rain like you mean it" deal, because seriously, when it rains, it pours down here. But its also something about the smell and the looks of it. It never seizes to amaze me, how nice a rainy day in South Florida can be.
What's funny, I grew up in Germany, where when it rains it automatically gets cooler. To this day, every time it rains, even in Florida, I catch myself looking for a sweater or a jacket or some socks and then when I go outside I realize, nope, I'm still in Florida and it is just as hot or hotter than before the rain. Gets me every time. Programmed from years of growing up in Germany.
It's just nice, to be able to go outside, for example, I can rollerblade right outside my front door, for a really long stretch, without once crossing a street. There's a pool in the community where I live, people go fishing in the lake. Aaaahhhh. How nice.
I wonder what everyone else's happy place is? I think, whether your happy place is inside you or surrounds you, I'm pretty sure if you enjoy it more than anything else, then it's a good place. South Florida is my happy place.
Well, after three years of living in Memphis, which was something like the anti-happy-place for me, I've finally made it back to my home of choice: South Florida. Just in time, because I had almost forgotten how much I loved the place. Back in my old neighborhood, Florida really makes it easy for me to be happy. Or as I would put it, Florida will give you on any given day an opportunity to start the day out better than a lot of other places. If for no other reason than the weather alone.
First of all, most of the time the sun greets you when you wake up, the palm trees, in my case the lake in the back of my house. The first thing I do here is look outside and breathe, thinking, how nice is this??? For some reason though, even the rain seems better here than other places. Weird, I'm telling you! I don't know what it is, maybe it's the "rain like you mean it" deal, because seriously, when it rains, it pours down here. But its also something about the smell and the looks of it. It never seizes to amaze me, how nice a rainy day in South Florida can be.
What's funny, I grew up in Germany, where when it rains it automatically gets cooler. To this day, every time it rains, even in Florida, I catch myself looking for a sweater or a jacket or some socks and then when I go outside I realize, nope, I'm still in Florida and it is just as hot or hotter than before the rain. Gets me every time. Programmed from years of growing up in Germany.
It's just nice, to be able to go outside, for example, I can rollerblade right outside my front door, for a really long stretch, without once crossing a street. There's a pool in the community where I live, people go fishing in the lake. Aaaahhhh. How nice.
I wonder what everyone else's happy place is? I think, whether your happy place is inside you or surrounds you, I'm pretty sure if you enjoy it more than anything else, then it's a good place. South Florida is my happy place.
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