If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands...

The pic below was taken in Washington State, but it reminds me a bit of the Pennsylvania woods where I endlessly explored as a child. Happy memories for the most part, yet bittersweet as there was always a hint of emptiness following my dad's death when I was 6. So, where am I going with this....?
Childhood stories always had happy endings, right? Well, come to find out, sometimes life isn't always easy or turns out as we thought it would, shock! It's easy to get down on yourself and/or the situation of things, to feel alone. Though, in reading out in blogland, and talking with friends, there's stories that one can relate to, and we're reminded we're not alone. And, as my friend reminds me, it's always good to remember your circle of influence as to what you can or can't control; and to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Which sometimes doesn't sink in right away because I'm feeling stroppy.

Still, sitting here tonight, letting my thoughts wander....I remembered some basic rules on life that I read and really enjoyed; and then wished others would follow as well....which brings me back to the circle of influence.... ;D

The following is from a site that I googled for the 'all I really need to know':
(site credit)

"ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN"

"(a guide for Global Leadership)"

"All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pile at school.
These are the things I learned:

* Share everything.
* Play fair.
* Don't hit people.
* Put things back where you found them.
* Clean up your own mess.
* Don't take things that aren't yours.
* Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
* Wash your hands before you eat.
* Flush.
* Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
* Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
* Take a nap every afternoon.
* When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
* Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
* Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
* And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK."

"Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living."
[Source: "ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN" by Robert Fulghum. See his web site at http://www.robertfulghum.com/ ]


"You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life. "
Albert Camus

"Our character is basically a composite of our habits. Because they are consistent, often unconcious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character. "
Stephen Covey


Thoughts?