Today is Christmas Eve, Sunday, December 24, 2023.
I say this and I also understand this might be obvious to you or to someone else out there in the universe who might choose to read this entry.
At the same time, I want to recognize the date.
I want to recognize the time and the weather, which is currently gray and, for now, the streets are mainly quiet. My little side of suburbia is modest and the streets are mainly uneventful at the moment.

There are so many variables that we deal with in life. There are the daily things that happen. There’s work. There’s the people we interact with. Then there are the unexpected casualties and the unforeseen tragedies. There’s love or the lack thereof. There’s friends and then there are the friends we have who weren’t really friends at all. There is a bit of everything under the rainbow down here on Project Earth.
There’s life happening. All day and every day. 

It is the time of year where all around us is dressed in holiday lights. It’s Christmas time. While this is a time for hope and a time for giving, there are people who do not share the same sentiment or find the same enjoyment for this time of year.
And I get it. . .
I really do.

It’s true. The world is a crazy place. Everyone is crazy. Then again, maybe this is a good thing, to be crazy, I mean.
Maybe crazy is only a relative term. That could be true.
I say crazy but when I do, I do not mean crazy in a derogatory sense or to demean or degrade us as certifiable.
I do not mean this as if to say that any of us are out of sorts, or worthy of a straightjacket, or in need of some quiet time in a rubber room.
Well . . . maybe sometimes.

This one here . . .
This one is from the heart.
So, by now, we have talked about finding the little things which make us happy.
We’ve talked about the greatest finds in our life, such as unexpected money in our pockets and other things like that. We talked about the unexpected pleasures of being reminded of happy times. We talked about love.
We talked about navigation and how to maneuver through this crazy life of ours.
Wild, isn’t it?

Ah, the Mother. There she is.
The Great Almighty, Mother Earth, The Universe, The Powers that be. Or, to whomever this may concern.
These are the hands of fate which sew the world, like eyelets to a shoe and bring us together. All of this is done through a vehicle which we call fate and destiny.
It’s all out there.

And when it rains, it pours. Or so I hear.
They say that the downpour should start soon, at least this is what the weatherman says.
We are supposed to expect high winds and heavy rains, which is fine for today.
No really, this is fine with me.

I was thinking about those little things again. Believe it or not, this is where happiness lives – in the little things.
These are the things that let you know when people are paying attention. You know because it’s the details people notice when they care for you. That’s me right now, selfish because of a feeling I have yet I’m smiling because it is me who thinks that perhaps giving a gift to someone you love is more mutual than we pay attention to.
To be clear, it’s not the big gifts or the expensive things that touch the heart. No, trust me – a small gift can lead to the biggest and most beautiful emotional responses ever.
I love that.

Perhaps the question I have isn’t so much as to ask how do we find happiness. Nor does the question become where do we look. However, and more valuable is the question that asks, how do we keep our pleasure center intact? How do we find rewards in unrewarding times?
I think this is important to talk about.

How do we feed our spirit on days when our motivation is low? Better yet, I will refer to a paraphrased quote from the first American Judo Championship gold medalist, AnnMaria Demars, who said, “You’re not training to be your best. You’re training to be your best on your worst day.”
I think this is brilliant.