HAPPINESS PHOTOGRAPHY

COMBINATION OF HAPPINESS......................

BE LIKE THIS......................................

FRNDZ......HAPPINESS WILL BE IN OUR HANDS ONLY......DONT LET IT OUT......

MODELS OF LOVE

MODELS OF LOVE

When I had no concept of sacrifice
I learned from two people
Who gave up much for their children
My father
My mother

When I had no idea about commitment
I observed two people
Who are dedicated to each other
And to their children
My father
My mother

When I had no understanding about honor
I heard the words of two people
Whose hearts are pure
My father
My mother

When I wasn't sure that truth is always best
I watched two people
Whose integrity is beyond question
My father
My mother

When I had no worries about financial security
I saw two people
Take extra jobs to provide for their family
My father
My mother

When I could not have cared less
About the meaning of life
Two people showed me the way
My father
My mother

When I first comprehended love
I recognized it because two people
Were loving to each other
And to their children
My father
My mother

Today
When I muse on
Loving life models
I need look no further than two people
My father
My mother

Author: Carole D. Bos

KEYS TO COMPROMISE

KEYS TO COMPROMISE

In the beginning
I thought I made
Heroic compromises;
I dwelled too much
On the "hero" part.

Establishing our home
I thought I should teach
Countless lessons;
I dwelled too much
On the "teaching" role.

During early disagreements
I thought I gave in
Unnecessarily;
I dwelled too much
On the "I" word.

I saw a multitude
Of faults:
I thought I needed
To correct his
Not mine
Until
I found the greatest fault
In me:
Trying to change him
Instead of myself.

Concerns are different now:

Does the issue really matter?
If the answer is "no"
What is the point?

What am I giving up?
If the answer is "nothing"
Why should I care?

Can I adjust my thinking?
If the answer is "yes"
Why waste time arguing?

We have learned to
Listen first
Think next
Speak last
Teach by example

We have found
Our keys to compromise.

If only
I didn't
Keep losing
Those keys!

Author: Carole D. Bos

TEARS

TEARS

Black wall
Tapered at the
Ends
White letters
Spelling names of
Friends

Lost lives
Crushed spirits
All
Vietnam
Our generation's
War.

You volunteered
For rain-swept
Land
I cried
And failed to
Understand

Why fight
This war - it isn't
Ours
Why risk
Your life - it now is
Mine.

Orders spared you
From the jungle
War
You did not face
The strife, monsoons and
Gore.

We stand now
At this wall of
Pain
Its blackness
Fills me as a
Void

Its starkness
Strips me
Raw
I cannot hide
Emotions rising from my
Soul.

With salty eyes
We find the names of
Death
We trace white letters
Fallen heroes, finally lifted
Up

We weep
But tears are not the
Same

You cry
For those who died
I cry
Relieved white letters
Do not spell
Your name.

Author: Carole Bos

THE CONCEPT OF FAITH

THE CONCEPT OF FAITH

I met a man whose philosophy of life

Didn't seem to offer much:

   At sixty-two, my high-level executive days are over.

   After thirty-seven years, my wife and I are unhappy.

   My children are failures.

   I think I am, too.

When it's time, I'm going to end it like Hemingway.

What made me happy, he wondered.

   My faith.

   My marriage.

   My family.

   My career.

He scoffed at the concept of faith:

   I came from crap;

   I'm going back to crap.

   If I die like Hemingway, at least I decide when.

He laughted when I said

   I didn't come from crap;

   I'm not going back to crap.

   There's no reason to blow off your head like Hemingway.

His response was that

   The only point of life

   Is just to live it

   Before we disappear into oblivion.

I asked him about

   The point of living -

   If just living life

   Merely gets us to oblivion.

He said

   It doesn't matter.

   He was satisfied with his lack of faith

   In anything but the here and now.

I said

   It does matter.

   Faith in nothing but the here and now

   Is no faith.

He pondered my question:   If you really have faith in nothing,   Which has brought you only sorrow,   How is your lack of faith better than my faith,   Which has brought me only joy?

Intrigued, he smiled but said nothing.

   We became friends, though.

   Maybe that was his answer.

I still wonder   Why he told me about his inner turmoil,   Why he told me about his pain,   Why he told me about his despair.   Did he think it would bring a measure of peace?   Did he think it would ease his pain?   Did he think I could somehow help lessen his despair?

I know

   Another person's understanding does offer some peace,

   Kindness does ease pain,

   Candid talk does help lessen despair

   When someone openly questions

   The meaning of existence.

Maybe my friend saw in me   The power of personal faith.   Maybe that recognition made him question   The strength of his doubt.

I often wonder

   Whether our talks mattered as much to him

   As they mattered to me.

Author: Carole Bos

Watching Red Birds

I sat and watched a red bird today

and a bee buzz around my head.

I sat and watched the wind blow,

feel its coolness against my sun-heat skin.

I listened to the trees rustle and the

chickadee sing.

I watched the clouds roll by

and tried to guess the shapes.

I watched a red rose open,

its petals toward the light,

and a baby squirrel snuck up to say hello.

I sat and watched a red bird today

flutter from tree to tree

as he chased his mate around,

chirping the whole time.

I think he knew I was there.

There are many things I didn't do today,

many things I should have done.

But with so much to entertain me,

I could not pull away.

So,

I sat and watched a red bird today.

What did you do with your day?

Author: Jeannine Proulx

A Short Story On Happiness

HAPPINESS

Three weeks after our wedding, we moved to Europe.
We had not completed our college educations,
We didn't speak the language,
We didn't know the customs,
We didn't understand much about life on any continent.

Between us we earned less than $150 a month.
Our rent was $100.
We were a couple of kids
Embarking on a new adventure.
We struggled.
We were happy.

Many years later some things are different.
We completed our college educations,
We learned the foreign language,
We grew up.
We know a bit more about life.
Together we earn more than we need each month.

But some things are the same.
We still struggle.
We are still happy.

It wasn't lack of wealth
That made us happy before.
It isn't possession of material things
That makes us happy now.

It's the intangible part of life
That we embrace:
Best friends
Building a life together,
Fellow strugglers
Supporting one another,
Mutual achievers
Caring what happens to each other,
Pals
Playing together,
Lovers
Being together.

We are different sides
Of the same coin.

That's happiness.

Author: Carole Bos

what happiness is

happiness is bliss happiness, is when you get a new puppy happiness, is when you get married happiness, is when you go on you first date happiness, is making your own decisions happiness, is graduating happiness, is getting you first job happiness, is falling in love happiness is being proud of who you are happiness is bliss happiness, is glowing happiness, is fun happiness, is an amazing feeling happiness, is when you smile all day happiness, is giving someone a hug just because you can happiness, is that light in your eyes happiness, is what makes the world go around happiness, is bliss BY

Sam Byron