Remaining mindful of one or two things a day may be enough: Remembering to say gratitude each morning or each evening. Noticing the sunlight shimmering brightly on the water. Drinking a cup of hot coffee on the porch while watching a squirrel scurry along a limb. Listening to the woodpecker, Blue jay, or mocking bird songs.
Children easily say, “I love you”—to people, horses, dogs, cats, trees, and hamsters. If they fall and get bruised, they keep going. A skinned knee calls for a hug, a kiss, and a Band-Aid, and then they are off and running again. Children don’t stop playing because they once fell. They splash in the water, climb trees, and ride bicycles with gleeful abandon. And sometimes, while lying in bed, they wonder why grown-ups fight so much or why grown-ups get so mad all the time or why grown-ups argue about things that make no sense. Rather than teaching our children, perhaps we can spend some time, today, learning what children most want us to know: How to be happy, in this moment.