I choose to laugh LOUDLY

A good friend asked me a question yesterday “Was I content?” .... and it got me thinking.

What is contentment?

.... so I googled it, as is my wont when faced with something perplexing!

The vast wealth of information on contentment and it’s link to happiness left me reeling.  Am I content?  What defines contentment?  Does the situation you’re in affect your ability to be contented? 

Aristotle said “Happiness is self-contentedness” and I think he hit the nail on the head. 

Any of us can be content if we’re HAPPY with our lot in life.  Life doesn’t have to be perfect.  Interestingly enough, it’s been proven that as long as the basic needs are met, money has little impact on happiness either.

My answer to my friend was a resounding yes, I am content.  The more I’ve thought about it today, the more I know and believe the truth of that statement.

I am content.  Despite the difficulties of the last 2 years and the difficulties that still lie ahead, I have an innate ability to find happiness in even the smallest of things. It doesn’t mean that I’m looking at the world through rose-tinted spectacles but it does mean that I choose to see that everything has two sides to it.  I choose to focus on the positives and I choose to LAUGH ...

LOUDLY.

It doesn’t resolve anything but it sure makes me feel better!

My happiness bubble was nearly fit to burst this afternoon.  I’ve opened my studio at home for 2 afternoons a week and last week was the first week I was open. I had a couple of customers last week, Carol being my first, but they were all people I already knew.

Today I’ve had my first customer walk in off the street because she saw my signage on the road  .... it’s so exciting!  She didn’t purchase anything but loved what she saw and assures me she’ll be back ... with money next time.  

It’s the littlest of things and might seem quite arbitrary to most but it’s made me grin from ear to ear.  This CAN work.

I believe in me .... and so does the hound .... and that’s MORE than enough reason to smile!

Contented ... me?  Oh yes ... VERY definitely!

It's the COFFEE ... it makes her demented!

Who would have thought that a Labrador could LOOK so positively EVIL!

This is how she SHOULD look!

She looks manic ... as if she’s about to attack.  I suppose she was attacking something .... her ball .... trying to bury it alive.  Pity it wasn’t the Hurricanes ball ... or the Chiefs one.  The oldest lemming reckons I've given her TOO  much coffee.  What nonsense .... you can NEVER have TOO much coffee!

The Hound of Baskerville looks TAME compared to her. 

She’s completely INSANE!!

She dug trenches from one end of the beach to the other this morning. She was on a mission to let everyone know she’d been on the beach!  I just smile and shake my head and click away with the camera.  Shots like this are few and far between as the movement is so fast and furious

... and I have to avoid the sand.  It flies EVERYWHERE!

Oh wow .... a part of the beach she hasn't dug up yet!

Between her and the seagulls it was humour overload. 

The seagull and HIS leaf 

The tide was coming in and one of the seagulls picked up a leaf in the surf.  

Every time a wave washed over him he lost the leaf.

  He’d flap and flutter back to the leaf, pick it up  ... 

AND another wave would wash it out of his beak .... 

and so the cycle continued.

What was so special about THAT particular leaf I’ll never know.  All I do know is that his antics made me laugh.  They even briefly distracted the hound from her trench digging.

She makes people smile in a way I can’t.  I watch their faces as they walk along the boardwalk whilst she’s doing her manic trench-digging act in the sand.  As the bus trundles past I can see the faces of the people on the bus.  Some are smiling and pointing and I know she’s added some sunshine to their day.

Even some of the lycra-clad loonies can’t help but smile when they see this rugby-ball touting hound on her way up to the view site.  She only relinquishes the ball when the going gets tough OR there’s a LOG that just HAS to be carried.  LOGS are fun ..... in her eyes that is .... and you need a HUGE trench to bury a log in!

Oh dear .... it's home time and SOMEONE doesn't want to leave the beach.

After sending Julia on her way to work I returned to the beach with my coffee and sat on the sand whilst the hound dug trenches.  Fraternising with the enemy for my caffeine fix hadn’t been necessary today.  My usual addiction fixing haunt had been open for business with the girls warm friendly greetings and cheerful smiles.  Why on earth would I EVER want to get my coffee elsewhere.

This morning's sunrise ... too gorgeous!

Hercules ... our friend down the road

This village has become ‘home’ in a way I never expected it to.  It’s my little piece of heaven on earth.  This journey I’m on is moulding me, it moulds us all. It’s been exactly what it’s needed to be.  Each and every situation I’ve encountered was necessary.  Each and every person I’ve ever met was relevant for however long or however brief a period of time.  Nothing is wasted.  

I am in the here and now and I’m right on time ...

 .... and I’m smiling, as usual.  It’s my FAVOURITE form of exercise!

This picture has a story ALL of its own.  The hound wanted to chase after WHAT she thought was a BALL in the water.  It's NOT a ball though, it's our friend GOM with his swimming cap on!!  Wouldn't it have been FUN if I'd LET her CATCH the ball!!

It's NOT for sissies .... or those who DON'T want to get wet!

“LAUGH loudly, LAUGH often, AND most importantly, LAUGH at YOURSELF.”

~ Chelsea Handler

Stand-Up Paddle boarding is NOT as easy as it looks!

My fellow 'SUP'ers ... Christine, our teacher, who's the only one older than me ... Julia, who's 10 years younger than me and Nicky and Olivia,
 20 and 17 or thereabouts respectively, 2 of the girls from the Co-op.

I learnt a lot today about what NOT to do when you're learning to SUP!

A sense of humour is MANDATORY. 

Nicky was UP and GOING almost immediately!!  Wonderful balance!

DON’T fall in the water.  It makes you laugh .... AND ..... you struggle to get back up on your board

 .... BUT .... it makes everyone around you laugh and then they FALL in the water too!

I was up next but didn't have Nicky's confidence to try standing up straight away.

DON’T try stand-up paddle boarding for the first time when there are waves ... and a wind ..... unless you have the balance and poise of a ballerina. Nicky does, she took to it like a duck to water.  So does Olivia though it took her a little longer to feel confident enough to stand up.  So does Chris, our teacher, but she’s adamant that with a little practice and the right conditions we’ll be standing up too!

First step of trying to stand up .... I've now got to get my feet on either side of the handle in the centre of the board ..... yeah right!

I think I’ll be getting a little wetter first before I get the balance thingy right.

Julia heading out

WAVES and WIND are NOT conducive to learning stand-up paddle boarding.

Olivia heading out 

It is NOT the most graceful of sports despite looking so.  When you watch SUPers when you’re walking along the beach they appear to glide effortlessly over the water.  

It is NOT effortless .... my quads feel like jelly!

Second step .... get your feet on either side of the centre, and bend your knees.
This is the 'bum in the air' pose!

In the beginning when you’re trying to stand up, you spend a lot of the time on your hands and feet with your bum in the air.  If holding this pose for what feels like aeons bothers you, DON’T try paddle boarding.

Third step .... stand up and paddle .... FURIOUSLY .... it's supposed to help you keep your balance!

It IS a HUGE amount of fun. 

I obviously DIDN'T paddle furiously enough.

DON’T allow the lemming to have the camera.  

There are only SO many unflattering photos of yourself you can tolerate.  

So I tried again ...

Be prepared to LAUGH and LAUGH and LAUGH.  

It’s a long time since I’ve had SO much fun in an hour and got SO wet!  

.... and took ANOTHER tumble!
You can tell I wear shorts more than what I wear a bathing costume .... really weird tan line!

In the words of Christine, our teacher, “I’m a grandmother and if I can do it, anyone can!”  She’s so right.  

Christine and Nicky .... Nicky's a natural!

Olivia and I both trying to stand.

I have wanted to paddle board for ages.  I’ve often seen Christine out in the bay, with her poodle (her husband’s poodle, actually)  paddling off around the cliff towards Ladies Bay and beyond.  It has ALWAYS appealed to me.  I think I’ve mentioned on my blog before about having this vision of the hound sitting on the front of a board as we explore the eastern bays together.

Olivia DID it!

I am NOTHING if NOT persistent!

Well I think my vision could become reality.  I just need to learn to stand up and paddle first without falling off.  Then I can introduce the hound to the board.  Christine’s offered to help and will take the hound on her board first as it’s quite possible I’d put the hound off by tipping her into the waves.

The hound couldn’t understand WHY I wasn’t on the sand with her.  I didn’t know until after the lesson but she’d apparently tried to swim out to me.  She’d got it into her head that she should join me .... mad hound!

Even Nicky DID fall off ..... but not as frequently as yours truly!

I think she’s going to enjoy this paddle boarding lunacy as much as I am!.

Yep, those are my feet ...... again!

Julia couldn't stand either so she decided to SLEEP on her board!

The hound was delighted to see me exit the waves!