Hi folks! If you're reading this, you probably know that my friend, Kevin Milne, wrote a novel about me. When he asked for permission to do so, I was flattered. Who wouldn't be, right? Of course, he didn't tell me he was going to use my real name in the book! (Yeah, I didn't say he was a good friend. The nerve of some people...)
Oh well, life goes on. Speaking of which, I've received more than a few inquires lately about how my life is going these days. Let me just say that things are...well...they're just about the same as they were at the end of Sweet Misfortune. Apparently I'm not at liberty to say more than that (Kevin swears that when I agreed to let him write about me, I also agreed to not give away the ending to people who haven't read it. And since I don't need any more drama in my life, I think I'll just play by the rules).
I'm sorry I had to cancel the PO Box in Tacoma, but the deluge of mail was way more than I could handle. However, if you'd still like to share what happiness is to you, I could certainly benefit by what you have to say. Please post your thoughts on happiness as a comment to this blog post.
I look forward to hearing from you!
~Sophia Maria Jones
Happiness is a loving wife and five beautiful children.
ReplyDeleteHappiness is watching your children learn from their mistakes.
ReplyDeleteHappiness is reading a good book.
ReplyDeleteHappiness is having leftovers for dinner. Wait, no. Happiness is not having to cook dinner, because there are left-overs in the fridge.
ReplyDeleteHappiness is seeing a brilliant idea brilliantly executed. Like this one!
ReplyDeleteHappiness is having a son-in-law that you are very proud of, even though he does live across the world with our Six treasures. Dave and Sandy Doyle
ReplyDeleteHappiness is having already read this book because my teacher won it at Thanksgiving
ReplyDeleteHappiness is being brave for the first time, and knowing that you can be brave again.
ReplyDeleteHappiness is what you make it!!!!
ReplyDeleteHappiness is smiling and meaning it.
ReplyDeleteHappiness is not always joy. Joy is fleeting. Happiness ebbs and flows and doesn't always feel joyful; but if you can accept and be satisfied with wherever and whatever your life is instead of always wishing your life was different, even if life is rough, then you are happy.
ReplyDeleteHappiness would be seeing this book as a delightful, wonderful movie! In my mind's eye I can see every scene clearly, have cast each character carefully thanks to your ability to tell a captivating story! :-) Loved every word of it!
ReplyDeleteHappiness is coming across this book & looking forward to reading it again, & maybe again. It was the best one of the 110 books I read in 2010!
ReplyDeleteHappiness is making others happy and being happy at that!
ReplyDeleteHappiness in finding God and experiencing his graciousness and mercy.
ReplyDeleteHappiness is looking at your children and being proud of what they became :) ♥♥♥♥
ReplyDeleteto my 4 wonderful boys
What is happiness?
ReplyDeleteWell, after 16 comments above me I sort of feel like Sophie in this book. I was reading over some and thinking "happiness is not this or that". But then again, who am I to judge what happiness is for others?
Happiness for me--a hopeful romantic--and a college student who has never really dated anyone, EVER.. is not when you finally realize that the things around you have such profound effect on you, your heart, your mind, your body and your soul, but it is when I look into those "things" and analyze them to the point where I find the message of happiness embedded deep within them.
Happiness is bliss when you know that nothing can stand in the way of your hopes and your goals in this lifetime of yours and the next; even when life throws the blows at you one by one, day by day.
Happiness is living the dream you read in this book, Sweet Misfortune, because in the end, Sophie finds her happiness embedded deep within the roots of the past--Garrett.
I wish to say that Love is happiness, but from my experience, LOV-ING is happiness. I love everyone, I'm serious. I walk by homeless people nearly everyday and all I wish for them is happiness. In some ways they have their happiness right there on the street, meeting people who smile and nod or even toss a coin or two their way--that shows them they're not alone and that people in general make happiness what is should be.
I may sound funny, cheesy, weird, or like a hope-less romantic to some of you ;) but in reality I AM funny, sometimes cheesy, weird in a way, and even though I am a hope-ful romantic.. I'm just a hope-less romantic filled with joy from life's adventures.
Happiness to me is being able to walk into a bookstore with NO idea what I want to read and finding this book then finishing half of it on a plane ride, and the other half at home--late at night.
Happiness is not knowing what life has in store for you and embracing the moments you have with the surrounding audiences at your side, may it be people, animals or even a room full of hope-lessly romantic books!
But really, these are above descriptions of happiness are in fact mine. But, my ONE true happiness lies within me--the loss I have. I have not lost a parent or two, I haven't lost my grandparents but I have lost something that everyone takes for granted..my hearing. Hearing the birds and the crickets at night is the most profound happiness to me. I still have a little bit of my hearing left but I am afraid of losing it.. for that one reason--to be able to hear the chirps of life's melody.
Happiness. Fleets. In someways.
Signed,
a Deaf girl
Happiness is hearing your child say 'Mama". No matter how old they are.
ReplyDeleteHappiness for me is remembering my dad. Because even though he passed away almost six years ago, I would not trade any time my family was able to spend with him while he was alive. He was truly loved by many, so when he passed suddenly it was a shock for everyone that knew him. But his optimism about life, the devotion he showed to his family and God, and his upbeat personality will forever live on in my sister, mother and I. How can I not be happy to have such an amazing person in my life?
ReplyDeleteLa felicità è il lato opposto della disperazione.
ReplyDeletetocca solo alcuni istanti fugaci della nostra esistenza, rarissimi e per questo li rende più intensi.
sarebbe già moltissimo aspirare alla serenità.
cambiare più volte la nostra prospettiva nel modo di vedere il mondo ci permetterebbe di assaporare il dolceamaro della vita, sapore che le è proprio, in quanto tale.
p.s. non volevo "urlare", ma ho un rapporto un po' difficile con la tecnologia...
Happiness is living every second, one step at a time. Smiling and laughing at every opportunity. Experiencing everything,pulling it all in. Learning new things, and making new friends. Loving and being loved by all. That is happiness to me.
ReplyDeleteAlso, will you ever make a second book? *Please say yes please say yes..*
I think happiness is fleeting... someone above said "Happiness is not always joy. Joy is fleeting," but how I've internalized those words is flipped. Happiness is temporary, but joy is something that can be permanent in life, always found, always chosen.
ReplyDeleteLast October, a good childhood friend got into a accident, in which his skull cracked open and he subsequently went into a coma. As I walked to class the day I found out, I was struggling just not to cry. But I found strangely that I loved every person I saw with more love than I knew I had inside of me. My concern was magnified into empathy by a single, simple realization. Every one of the people on this earth has an intricate web of relationships. Every person has a mother, a father, and friends, and they are so important, if not to me, than to someone else. I could feel only gratitude that all these people around me were laughing, walking and whole. And if that wholeness was stripped from them at that moment, I knew that it would create as much heart wrench as this boy’s accident did for those who loved him.
I care fiercely for my friend’s life and the gift of his accident to me was that I felt that same fierce care for each and every life on that day. Regardless of anything else, a heartbeat, a breath and an awareness of the world seems enough to be happy for wherever it's found.
And speaking of GRATITUDE and non-fleeting happiness, I think this talk by Dieter F. Uchtdorf speaks to that topic very well.... https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/grateful-in-any-circumstances?lang=eng#listen=audio
Thanks for the story Kevin! It was great.