The key to all happiness is to be happy now.
We must be happy now, today, regardless of our circumstances if we wish to find eternal happiness.
For many people it is difficult to find and maintain happiness now, today.
There are many, many reasons for this, I can't get in to all of them in this forum, but the main reason, I think, is because we've been conditioned since birth to glorify, emphasize and dwell upon the negative instead of the positive.
Think about it, we go on and on about our aches and pains, about how tired we are, about how irritated this person makes us, about how horrible the weather is, about how snobby that woman is, about how we need to lose 10 pounds, etc.
etc.
etc.
The quantity of negative that we emit is endless.
Now compare that to how much positive we discuss.
Take a second and actually compare the amount of positive versus negative that comes out of our mouth each day.
We can barely even accept a compliment! If someone says what a great job we did, we immediately respond with "Oh, it was nothing, really", or "Oh I barely did a thing, it was so and so".
We brush it off with embarrassment.
So, without getting off track completely, I wanted to briefly discuss two specific ways you can be happy NOW, even if you really are stuck in a rut.
Number one: Ask yourself "What am I doing for me?" Do you invest time, energy or money into yourself? As mothers we are pros at putting forth all of our efforts into everybody else.
But are you doing something, anything for yourself? If not, then start! What makes you happy? What brings you peace and joy? What relaxes you or rejuvenates you or fills you up with energy? Find something that you LOVE to do and do it.
If you want happiness you must invest in yourself.
So, shut yourself in your room for an hour to read a book, take a pottery class, take a weekly (or daily) class at the gym, walk outside everyday for an hour, write in your journal, take a home study course or enroll at a community college for a specific class, learn how to sew, meet up with a girlfriend once a week for lunch, get a massage, get a mani/pedi, put on the headphones and listen to your music.
The task doesn't matter, just do something consistently that you enjoy.
Number two: If you already do invest in yourself and you're not receiving the joy you want from it, then you need to either find a new activity, or you can work towards something, a goal, a desire, a dream, something you've always wanted to do but never got around to starting.
Make sure it's a goal you want to do, not something you feel obligated to do.
Do you want to finish or continue your education? Do you want to write a book? Do you want to learn a new language? Do you want to travel to a specific country (for this one, start actively saving money for the trip, say you will, not one day you hope to go), Do you want to start a business from home? Do you want to learn to play an instrument? Again, the goal in and of itself doesn't matter, as long as it's something that brings you happiness when you think about it actually taking place.
Work at your goal, dream, hobby little by little.
The process of working towards something can be extremely rewarding and full of great joys and excitement.