Learning to Find Happiness in the Journey

A few weeks ago our family went to a town festival.  We had been to several events in the town and loved them all, leading us to believe this would be equally as entertaining as the others.  Well about 15 disappointing minutes of walking around caused me to be in a "this is not entertaining, there is nothing for the kids, and it is 6:15 and we should have eaten dinner at 6 and I am starving so we'd better leave this very instance to go to a fast food restaurant because there is no way I am going to pay $10.00 for the slop that comes out of those vendor trucks" kind of mood.

Noticing Husband's silence and downward glances at our fast food meal made me reflect on my bad behavior.  I sheepishly asked him what he would have done if Lame-o Mom hadn't been there to demand a departure, to which he replied that he would have stayed and enjoyed a relaxing night out with the kids.  "After all," he added, "we could go to Chick-Fil-A any day."

I spent the next half hour in good conversation with him.  I owned up to the fact that I am more of a destination person.  I want to get from Point A to Point B as fast as possible, which makes me forget sometimes about all the things between those points.  I also tend to look quickly at the big picture and if it isn't what I expect or want, I tend to bolt or have a bad attitude instead of enjoying whatever is there.  I told him I would try to be better and asked him to remind me about that promise the next time we were in a similar situation.

A week later I would get a chance to redeem myself.

Kids and I visited Aunt Kelli and were on our way home from a fun and busy few days.  Around hour two we hit a bad traffic jam that eventually caused us to stop on the freeway.  After idling for 10 minutes we realized we were in for the long haul and I finally shut off the engine.

That very minute I made a choice.  I was going to keep a good attitude no matter what happened. 

Even though I wasn't going to get from Point A to Point B in the desired time frame, it would be ok because I had the kids to keep my company.  Even though I looked around at the big picture and didn't like the never-ending sight of stalled bumpers, I would make the best of what we had.

It didn't take long to notice all the blessings in our situation.  We had a small bag of pretzels to munch on and Aunt Kelli sent us home with cut up watermelon to enjoy.  We had books, music, toys, and movies in the car to keep us entertained.  Little Miss has to go to the bathroom?  No problem thanks to spare diapers in the back.  The best part of all was the clouds covering the sun, and the slight breeze blowing cool air into the car so we didn't overheat.  We spent some time stretching our legs and had a nice visit with the family behind us.  The kids never complained or got cranky.  All in all it was the very best of circumstances in an otherwise annoying situation.

Our three hour trip took almost six but we made it home safe and sound.  That night when I put the kids to bed I used our road trip as a teaching moment.  That we can decide how we're going to react, whether good or bad, to less-than-ideal circumstances.

The late Elder Wirthlin gave a talk a few years ago that expresses this lesson so beautifully.  A message to "Come What May and Love It."

So today my happiness is for lessons learned, for safety in travels, for blessings, and for finding joy in the journey.