Cultivating Happiness

I pass a long-term care home on my way to the Lindsay office.  From many partner tables I understand some of the many pressures these homes are under to provide excellent care, recruit staff, balance the budget, manage vacancies and proving their worth in regular reviews.  This is an immense amount of pressure to do quality care for people.  On their sign I read in bold letters: our purpose- cultivating happiness.  It made me think about all those standards of care and pressures, I would imagine that it could be easy to think that their purpose is to get the care right or to have optimal supports and facilities.  How wonderful then to imagine that despite all the pressures and regulations, the team can see clearly that their mission is something more.  Cultivating happiness is a tall order, I am sure they mean that they need to work to make each day a little brighter, infuse fun and activity, foster connections and family involvement and honour all in their care as people first.  A great reminder for all of us as we get bogged down in all that is going on around us, when we feel the weight of pressures in our lives.  What is at the center?  What is the prime directive?  It could be- cultivating happiness.  Pressures seem to always get replaced by more problems when we focus on just trying to comply to all that we have to and get through.  However, as John Lennon says, life happens while we are making other plans.  Each of those days of worry and work add up to the days of our lives.  Our mission on all those days- cultivate happiness. Look for the big and small ways to make days lighter, find some humour, make others smile, or just notice the good and light moments and appreciate them everyday.