Cultivating Happiness

Last week at the MCC Staff Meeting we shared stories of inspiration. I shared the following reflection:

Hugs, delicious food and candy, beautiful flowers, handmade blankets.

When I think of these things, I think of my mother’s mother. She was born in the province of Ontario, in Canada in 1914. She was the second oldest of four children.

My grandmother taught her children and grandchildren many valuable life lessons, for which I’m thankful.

Last Tuesday I attended Phout’s presentation on “Cultivating Happiness” and I had to stop and think what makes me happy and who taught me what happiness is. I believe my grandmother taught me many thinks about happiness.

She was a Christian and loved God very much. It was important for her to go to church every Sunday, but it was just as important for her to share her love for God, every other day of the week. She loved to sing songs about God and read the special book for Christians, called the BIBLE. She taught me happiness comes from loving and knowing God.

She also taught me a lot about how loving and caring for others brings happiness. She cared about her neighbours and the people in her community and she was always helping them in whatever way she could. She loved to share the things she had with others. For many, many years, she helped make blankets and gave them to MCC, so they could give them to those who didn’t have a blanket. She also loved to cook and make candy and share the food she made with others. I never left her house without a bag of candies or cookies to eat on the trip home. In caring for others, they experienced happiness and so did she.

My grandmother also taught me how happiness comes from loving nature. Her and her husband were farmers and they worked hard to have food, clothing and shelter for their family. My grandmother loved to work in her vegetable garden and took very special care of all the vegetables. She also loved to grow flowers both inside and outside the house. She had a very special way with flowers and experienced much happiness from their beauty. She also wanted others to experience the beauty of her flowers and so she gave away many shoots and leaves from her flowers, so others could grow them in their homes and experience the beauty of nature.

My grandmother very wisely taught me that happiness does not come from having a big expensive house, lots of fancy clothes and lots of money.

For my grandmother happiness came from loving God, loving others and loving nature. I’m thankful for the lessons that my grandmother taught me and all her grandchildren about happiness.