{"id":666,"date":"2015-10-02T06:50:26","date_gmt":"2015-10-02T10:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/?p=666"},"modified":"2015-10-02T02:55:59","modified_gmt":"2015-10-02T06:55:59","slug":"week-55-which-way-to-happyness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/?p=666","title":{"rendered":"Week #55 – Which way to Happyness?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Which<\/a>

Which way to Happyness? (photo credit: Grace Church)<\/p><\/div>\n

Week #55 –\u00a0Which way to Happyness?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Greetings Happyness Tribe — and Welcome to Week #55!<\/p>\n

I\u2019m writing to you from the West Coast\u2026James and I are on our first trip to LA in over two years. \u00a0And I have a confession…<\/span><\/p>\n

…it has not been entirely happy.<\/p>\n

To return to the place I first lived and worked out of college, the place I struggled and celebrated my first highs and lows, the place where I made my first adult friends (many of whom are still friends to this day!) — it\u2019s always been a fun trip down memory lane. \u00a0But this time things have changed…and I\u2019m not talking about LA. \u00a0I\u2019ve changed. \u00a0I’m not the same person I was a year ago\u2026and I can feel it HERE more clearly than at home. \u00a0Getting away from all the things that make me \u201cMe\u201d just leaves me wondering…who am I, really?<\/span><\/p>\n

And I need to tell you — that\u2019s a very empty thing, especially now.<\/p>\n

But\u00a0is it weird to say that I kind of like it?<\/p>\n

Because it’s causing me to dig deep.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is the first Friday of the month — and Rob is on my mind. \u00a0I had planned to make this post about him — but coming to the West Coast has left me reaching in two directions. \u00a0My LA-brain is still reaching backward for Rob — wanting to share the experience with him, struggling anew to compute the reality that he is gone. \u00a0My East Coast brain — which has been processing Rob\u2019s death for a year — is facing\u00a0forward, looking to the horizon, and\u00a0adjusting\u00a0to a future “without” him.<\/p>\n

Which way to Happyness?<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I was looking back for a picture of Rob for today’s post — I was drawn to this picture I took just yesterday!\u00a0 That one lone surfboard just waiting for a rider reminded me of him. \u00a0At first it made me sad…and then I realized: although Rob is not physically present (and Lord knows I wish he was!), his spirit is felt in each and every moment I remember his absence. \u00a0Yes, I can look back at old photos and see what he was\u2026but I can also look forward and see him still,\u00a0reminding me at every turn to choose Happyness!<\/p>\n

This week’s challenge: Which way to Happyness?! \u00a0<\/strong>As you move through your week, and you encounter those damned-if-you-do and damned-if-you-don’t moments — ask yourself, “Which way to Happyness?” \u00a0Sometimes Happyness isn’t the easiest, or safest, most popular, or even most sensical option. \u00a0Those are valid questions to ask, for sure. \u00a0But be sure to ask yourself which way to Happyness, too.<\/p>\n

“My giant goes with me wherever I go.” \u00a0(Ralph Waldo Emerson)<\/p>\n

Spread Happyness — share your thoughts, support others, and embrace those giants!<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

10\/2\/15 by Grace Church
\n<\/em>\u00a9 Grace Church<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Week #55 –\u00a0Which way to Happyness? Greetings Happyness Tribe — and Welcome to Week #55! I\u2019m writing to you from the West Coast\u2026James and I are on our first trip to LA in over two years. \u00a0And I have a confession… …it has not been entirely happy. To return to the place I first lived […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=666"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":671,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666\/revisions\/671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}