Be grateful, love and work hard=true happiness and no regret

What a difference a week makes. What a difference life in general makes. Just over a week ago, I left for New York, Connecticut and Florida for work. Not even half way through my trip, I find out that my uncle passes away completely unexpectantly. The worst feeling in the world in not having an opportunity to say goodbye to someone you love. Even worse than that, is realizing that is takes a death or some other catastrophic event to put life into perspective. You automatically ask yourself questions like "What am I doing with my free time? Am I telling my family everyday how much I love them? How will my decisions affect my future?" and so on. There are so many things that go through your mind.

The week of being away and dealing with a death in the family helped me to realize how lazy I have been, and how I have put off some inevitables. Namely, career and marriage. Sitting around and being satisfied with the ordinary is fine. It suits many people, but true happiness is never satisfied with the mundane. I envision happiness as something that provides much more than the ordinary, the feeling of accomplishment from hard work and the great rewards that are seen from that hard work.

I know that it's time for me to get married. To whom is still up in the air, but I know I gave up on Kelly way too early to know if she is it for sure. That is why we are still together. Judging too early is not working...it hasn't worked in the past, so working in the here and now would be ridiculous. One day at a time, being grateful for what I have and knowing that God will eventually find a way to knock some sense into me will keep me afloat.

Neglecting family and loved ones can seem fine in the present with no knowledge of the future, but they can be taken in the blink of an eye. Be grateful, love and work hard=true happiness and no regret.  A simple formula that all of us can follow.