Pope Francis’s Secrets to Happiness

Pope Francis is just the best. His simple messages of love and hope are so refreshing! taken from The Independent

1. Move forward and let others do the same.

2. “Be giving of yourself to others.” People need to be open and generous toward others, he said, because “if you withdraw into yourself, you run the risk of becoming egocentric. And stagnant water becomes putrid.” -Love that!

3. Proceed calmly” in life. 

4. A healthy sense of leisure. The Pope said “consumerism has brought us anxiety”, and told parents to set aside time to play with their children and turn of the TV when they sit down to eat.

5. Sundays should be holidays. Workers should have Sundays off because “Sunday is for family,” he said.

6. Find innovative ways to create dignified jobs for young people. “We need to be creative with young people. If they have no opportunities they will get into drugs” and be more vulnerable to suicide, he said. -So true!

7. Respect and take care of nature. Environmental degradation “is one of the biggest challenges we have,” he said. “I think a question that we're not asking ourselves is: 'Isn't humanity committing suicide with this indiscriminate and tyrannical use of nature?'” -I find it so interesting that he put it this way, and it's so true!

8. Stop being negative. “Needing to talk badly about others indicates low self-esteem. That means, 'I feel so low that instead of picking myself up I have to cut others down,'” the Pope said. “Letting go of negative things quickly is healthy.”

9. Don't proselytise; respect others' beliefs. “We can inspire others through witness so that one grows together in communicating. But the worst thing of all is religious proselytism, which paralyses: 'I am talking with you in order to persuade you,' No. Each person dialogues, starting with his and her own identity. The church grows by attraction, not proselytising,” the Pope said.

10. Work for peace. “We are living in a time of many wars,” he said, and “the call for peace must be shouted. Peace sometimes gives the impression of being quiet, but it is never quiet, peace is always proactive and dynamic.

Song on Repeat

Last night on the drive home I couldn't get enough of this song from Broods, 'Bridges'. Funny thing is, I'm pretty sure we went and saw Broods perform live when we lived in downtown Long Beach at that record shop right behind our apartment, I can't remember what its called...something like Paperclips...wait no, got it - Fingerprints. We only saw a handful of performances there, out of the thousands they had, and Broods was one of them (I think).

I have never seen this video before, it's very German, has that same quality as 'Let the Right One In,' that vampire movie?

But this song captures exactly how I feel right now, not the lyrics, just the tone, the emotion. Very fall, and sort of hopeful, and sleepy Sunday, and staying cozy in bed drinking my coffee.

Don't worry, be happy...

I read a good article somewhere that said that nothing matters to your kids more than your level of happiness at your own life. It said that your job doesn't matter, your level of education doesn't matter, whether you were single, divorced, gay or straight, blue or green, or anything. The most secure thing for a child, is having a parent who is happy with their life. or something like that. I wholeheartedly believe this, as right now in my life nothing gives me greater joy then knowing my parents are happy, and my baby being healthy and happy as well!

What new parent doesn't, but I have been thinking a lot about my own upbringing, which was very, very catholic. It was oftentimes very stressful and instead of bringing me peace, it could be a great source of fear and worry. Not necessarily good for a child.

Thinking on all this really makes me realize that I need to spend a lot more time with my spiritual self, I really have been neglecting it and I don't like how that feels.

The one thing I am sure of right now is that I need to do right by my child. so for him, I will be happy with me. I will strive everyday to be present and enjoy the wonder and life my little one gives me.  And we'll figure out the rest as we go, together.

My bebes realizing he can look through the
crack on the stroller and see mama!