Navarre Beach, Florida, May 6, 2015, 11:16 CDT

Today is yet another beautiful day on the beach. It is sunny and warm, with a high of about 83 degrees. Perfect winds. Great lower surf conditions. Basically the infect beach day, so long as you bring your sunscreen.

Thankfully yesterday I didn’t get too burned, although I did get a bit more on my face than I anticipated. But th a just means that I don’t have to wear as much make up when I get back to the real world.  A bit of Sun, but not too much, is a good thing. I don’t want to look like a paper bag when I’m older, but being a bit south of ghostly pale is a good thing.

We saw dolphins this morning off the coast. They always look like they are having do much fun leaping ad swimming along the waves. It’s like they are the harbingers of happiness. They remind  me of the leaps of faith that each of us take every day. Will it be safer to travel the main highway or the interstate? Which lunch at Taco Bell will not give you digestive ailments? Which shirt and skirt combination will go sway the jury in your favor? Should I skip the cola and have water instead (almost always the better choice).  Dolphins, like us, makes these seemingly inane choices daily, on their journeys through the oceans. Ahhh. A life at sea. How wonderful that would be.

I am thinking of a good friend who is considering a leap of faith. It takes courage to do she she is thinking of doing. I know. I did it back late last year. Leaving a (fairly) stable environment to venture off into a somewhat unknown existence. But, leaving behind a lot of baggage, heartache, worry, stress, and unreasonableness along the way. A trade-off, but certainly better than remaining unhappy for not years than are necessary.

I have also thought a lot during this hiatus from work life. I have let my mind roam  and wander. I have relished and relived some great memories made over my lifetime. I have remembered friends who have passed, wondering what my life and their own lives wold have been like if they were still with us. I have let my mind relax and play out scenarios of travels to far-off lands. I have slept and had good and scary dreams. I have cooked, eaten, drank coffee on the balcony, took photos of the beach and the sunsets thereupon. I have, in other words, lived.

Is this the life I had only dreamed about?  It is very very close. I have a wonderful husband. I have a job I enjoy. I’m debt-free other than my home.  I have the ability to work from home if I want to. I have raised my child and someone else’s two children. I have done my job, to the very best of my abilities at the time. Could  I have done better? I am most certain of it. But, everyone could do better. What matter, I believe, is whether you try  whether you forge ahead regardless of the difficulties and obstacles put in your way, and whether your batting average of success is better than your average MLB player. If you can sag yes to those, then you are successful.

As I sit on this balcony, I think of a conversation that I had recently with a friend. Over the years, I had much practice hiding my true, honest feelings from the world. Yes, if you know me well and a tee around  me enough, you km ow me and know how I am. Or at least how I appear. But these blogs and my Happiness Journal entries tell the real, actual, inside, barebones story of my feelings. I find that writing is the best way for me to get the “voices out of my head” as a friend once put it. Putting things down on paper releases them from my brain, giving me more space between the ears to think about other things. So, if reason these blogs allows you to see more of what my mind is truly about, I am glad.  Anyone who believes that making a list means you aren’t working is a fool.

So, I sign off th I post with this: go live the life you have only dreamed of. You deserve it. You can do it. You are worthy. Start by making that list.