Happiness is a form of courage

Courage is my character of choice. Everything I do, want to do, plan to do, I give partial credit to "Courage."  It may have something to do with Amy Cuddy's TED talk I watched long time ago.  Although her phrase "fake it 'til you become it" doesn't resonate with me very much, as I dislike anything fake - fake smiles, fake eyelashes, fake butter, fake boobs, fake characters - I understand her point.  I prefer "do it 'til you become it."  It infers a series of mindful actions rather than deliberate deceit.  Regardless of the word of choice, courage drives the doing.  

That brings me to Happiness.  

Is happiness a form of being?  Or do you create happiness?  Or both?

The Friday before Memorial Day weekend in year 2000, at the SeaTac airport, while waiting for my flight home to Boise after a long day of meeting, this man was eyeing me at the gate.  This man eventually became my husband.  He chatted up the gate agent and switched his seat so he could sit next to me on the Horizon flight.  Exit row.  

That weekend, we went for a hike at Camelback Mountain with Kida, the Black Dog.  The man discovered that I'm a classical pianist.  I discovered he spoke Russian fluently.  I also made belief he was a spy… 

A month later, I announced that I was moving to Seattle to chase the Green Siren (Starbucks) and to become a Purple Dawg (UW Business School).  August, we went our separate ways, with our respective dog.  That was the end of our summer romance.  

Four months later, the man got a job with Alaska Airlines flying MD80, based in Seattle.  The dogs were reunited, as did the man and the woman.  The rest was history.  Until the day my husband died, he said I created this whole thing.  

Best 13 years of my life.  BUT - but - the best, and the happiest, must still be yet to come.  It is yet to be created.  

Happiness is a form of courage.  

Happiness is shooting bull's eye