Finding Happiness

How many people spend their entire lives and never find true happiness? Probably more than we ever realized. Maybe you are one of them.

First, what is happiness? It obviously is not depression, sadness, or the desire to be somewhere else. But it can be much more than that. It is not giddiness. It is not just being happy all the time. It is being content. It is enjoying the moment.

Happiness is not always forever. There are moments of happiness that last days, weeks, or even several years. Then we begin to want more. We want something different. That is when happiness is fading and begin replaced with something else. It could be restlessness. It could be that the world around you has changed. There is nothing forever and constant in this world.

I'm finding myself at a phase of happiness right now. We just moved to South Dakota. I'm finding myself at a state of happiness that is much deeper than a smile on my face. It is reaching into the soul.

Whenever I drive down the roads that reach across the plains and into the grasslands, I can't help but feel a pull that I've never felt before. I feel for the first time in my life that I have connected to something.

I thought it wouldn't be like that. I grew up where there were trees everywhere and bluegrass. Here there are trees but most of the land is made up of amber fields of grain. But there is something that is me here.

The landscape is so unique. There are gently rolling hills that have silk waves of grass blowing over them. Then there are sharp buttes that rise up with jagged rocks. As I come over a rise, I see below me a valley where a river winds through it and trees anchored along sections of the bank drinking in the sweet liquid. All along the fields are cattle scattered around eating the sweet grass. Over another rise can be found majestic horses that make me stop and marvel at their beauty. Another field will have buffalo wandering around. Another could have deer, antelope, pheasant, hawks, and prairie dogs scampering about.

Over and over again, the same thoughts come to me about how to describe this land. To be honest, there are not enough words to express what I see and feel. But I will make a small attempt.

I see the land as being caressed by a lover. Not just a short-term lover, but the one that is for life. The gently rolling hills are the gentle caresses that are given during moments of tenderness. From the lay of the land, there was much tenderness shared here. Then there is a sharp drop in the land and a small crevice or canyon is formed. I see that as a tense time in the relationship where the love is still there, but the tenderness has stepped aside but quickly resumed as the relationship continues through more rolling hills. A flowing creek or river signals the tears shared between the lovers that are inevitable. It could be times of sadness or joy. But either one ends up with tender rolling hills around it. As I travel I see large buttes rise up from the rolling hills. They are not gradual. They are sudden and many times severe. These are the times when love is not tender. This is when the lovers pull apart and struggle to find themselves again only to find themselves as one as they resume their tenderness. Every curve and every hill gives me a new glance into this lovers relationship. A rise will reveal miles and miles or should I say years and years of love that become a plateau and then begins a trend of tenderness that becomes more volatile and passionate as time goes on. I never know what I'll find. Then there are the storm clouds gathering in the distance to intrude upon the lovers. The beauty it presents is breathtaking. The lightening storms reflect the passion in the land. The sunsets enhance the love and give the promise of another day with more to discover.

Do I love South Dakota? More than anything. I never thought I would really find a place that I felt was more home than Kentucky. But I have. Many couldn't understand what I feel, but when you are where God wants you to be, you feel something that no words could describe and no one could fully understand.