good life with megan davis
Part of cultivating a good life means actively finding happy thoughts and holding on to them with all you've got.
You know that moment in the movie Hook when Peter finds his Happy Thought? I'm pretty sure most of us have seen that movie. I introduced it to my five year old a few weeks ago, and he was absolutely amazed that a Happy Thought could make Peter fly. Since watching Hook, my little one and I have talked a lot about Happy Thoughts. Good things that we think about when we are scared or down or when we just need a smile. We hold on to those Happy Thoughts.
Do you have Happy Thoughts? You do? That's great! Are you holding on to those Happy Thoughts? Are you recording them? Seriously. Do you record them? I do. And I think you should, too.
One day years ago, I was working a long day in the salon (I'm a hairstylist). I was doing my beautiful cousin's hair and we were talking about the stage of life we're in. Stages we had previously been in. And stages of life that were still to come. We talked about how sometimes we long for a stage we're going through to be over or how some days are pure survival mode. Some days are grand and you go to Disneyland! And some days are just ordinary and blah. I don't remember exactly what was said or how, but my sweet cousin shared with me one of her favorite quotes and it struck me to my core. I've since adopted it as my personal mantra and I have thought about it every day since.
"I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string." --Anne of Avonlea by L. M. Montgomery.
I went home that day with a new look on life. I'd always known life was beautiful, but now I was determined to make the extra effort to find the pearls and RECORD THEM. I never wanted to forget another beautiful moment again. I found a jar, put it on our kitchen counter, and every day from then on out I wrote something down and stuffed it into that little jar. Our "Pearl Moments Jar."
Yes. Happy Thoughts. Pearl Moments. They don't have to be grand. They don't have to be exciting. Most of us can't go to Disneyland every day. Some days are rough! Some days are just ordinary. But -- those Pearl Moments! Can you find them? They are everything. They are simple. They are joy. They are the silly, the sweet, the quirky, the spiritual, the ridiculous things that happen to us.
Small, beautiful pearls of joy that keep us going. They keep us smiling. They help us find our joy in the here and now, one small pearl at a time. I truly believe that we are put on this earth to find our Happy Thoughts, Pearl Moments, and joy.
For me, cultivating a good life means actively finding those Pearl Moments and holding on to them with all you've got. Because when you really think about it, those Pearl Moments ARE everything.
Megan Davis is a part of our creative team using the Project Life App. She currently resides in Salt Lake City, Utah with her husband Ryan, (9 years married!) and their two rambunctious boys, Paxton and Beckham.