Muppet Zen

Christmas was this past Sunday (in case you missed it). We opened our presents to each other here, then went over to my sister-in-law's house for breakfast. We ate sausage balls, breakfast casserole, and cinnamon squares before heading into the living room for more present opening. My sister-in-law and her husband have three girls, plus there was me, my fiance, and his mother, and we all had presents to share with each other.

That was a fun time. There's nothing quite like watching three little girls growing more and more excited as they unwrap toys, books, clothes, and games. One of the joint presents that my fiance and I received was the soundtrack to the new Muppets movie. We are Muppet geeks (is there a fancy term for Muppet-lovers, something similar to Ringers or Trekkies?). We saw the new movie with my fiance's family on Thanksgiving and we will own it when it makes it to DVD in a few months. The soundtrack was a great gift for us (it's currently in my vehicle's CD player as we speak).

One of the songs on the CD is "Life's a Happy Song." For those readers who have seen the new movie, it's the song that Gary and Walter sing as they go through their hometown on their way to Los Angeles. It's a very fun, peppy song, the kind that really makes you feel cheerful when you listen to it. We had the soundtrack playing in the background while we got ready to take a family self-portrait and that was the song that was up. We were settling in on the couch, my sister-in-law was setting up the camera, one of the nieces crawled into my lap, and this was the line being sung on the song, "I've got everything that I need right in front of me."

It's just a simple line from a song but at that moment it hit me with such profound awareness that I could only call it a "Zen" moment - in better terms, a Muppet Zen moment. "I've got everything that I need right in front of me." Yes, I do! It was Christmas, the time of the year when the air is just thick with love, which is the greatest feeling of all, when your heart is full of gratitude for all the good things and good times you've received. I felt so blessed at that moment - I am so blessed!

There is a "True Rule" that Gretchen Rubin mentions in The Happiness Project and it goes something like this: "Happiness comes not from having more, not from having less, but from wanting what you have." For me, this translates perfectly into the line from the song.

I have a wonderful, loving fiance who will become my husband in August. I adore his family. My in-laws are fantastic and affectionate and so much fun! I have the best friends and a great family. I have a roof over my head, two playful puppies, a job, my health, my creativity, and my spirituality. "I have everything that I need right in front of me!" This is an undeniable truth and I am so grateful for it each and every day.