I Didn't Choose My Childhood, But I Chose My Life

Relatively speaking, we aren't on this earth very long. So why would we want to spend the precious time we've been given living unhappy, holding onto things that happened yesterday, or allowing other people to steal our joy?

We need to make the most of every moment. We need to cherish the people we love, enjoy the life we've been given, and live each day as though it matters—because it does.

Learning how to live a happy life when you've grown up in a very dysfunctional and unhappy home wasn't easy for me. It took some very intentional choices for me to get to the happy life I'm living today.

Most people who meet me today probably think, Look how great she's got it. She's got a great husband and son. They live a good life.

And they would be right.

But it wasn't always this way.

I grew up in a home with an alcoholic father and a mother who enabled him because if she didn't, she would get beaten. My dad was mean when he was drunk, and even when he wasn't drinking, it was still his way or no way.

It's sad, really, that when I look back on my childhood, the things that stick out the most are the ugly things that happened.

Oh sure, there were good things mixed in there too. There were good memories, good times, and moments with my dad that I remember fondly. I'm not trying to erase those or pretend they didn't exist. But when you grow up in an environment where the bad can overshadow the good, unfortunately, those are often the things that stay with you the longest.

But those ugly things also taught me something.

They taught me exactly what I didn't want my life to look like.

They taught me what kind of home I didn't want to create. What kind of marriage I didn't want. What kind of parent I didn't want to be. And, perhaps most importantly, they taught me that I had a choice.

I didn't have a choice about the home I was born into.

But I did have a choice about the home I would create.

And I do have a choice about how I live my life today.

I live a happy life today because of God.

Having Him in my life has been the compass I always needed and wanted—the compass my parents should have been able to provide for me when I was a child.

When God came into my life, I got to be a child again—to some extreme, maybe. 😂

He showed me how to love and how to be loved.

He wrapped His arms around me—figuratively speaking, of course—and showed me a love I'd never known before. An unconditional love that welcomes me back no matter how many times I fail.

He showed me that my past didn't have to determine my future.

And that changed everything.

I've learned that living life happy is a choice.

Just like living life unhappy is a choice.

That doesn't mean life is always easy. It doesn't mean there won't be hard days, disappointments, loss, or things that hurt.

It means we get to decide what we're going to do with the life we've been given.

We can choose to live with purpose.

We can choose gratitude.

We can choose forgiveness.

We can choose to love the way God has called us to love.

We can choose to make a difference.

We can choose to stop allowing yesterday to rob us of today.

And we can choose to be happy.

I love my life.

I love God.

I love my family.

God and my family are my world.

My life isn't perfect, but it is a life I am incredibly thankful for—and I wouldn't trade it for all the money in the world.

We aren't here long enough to waste our days being unhappy.

So love your people.

Cherish your moments.

Make the memories.

Laugh a lot.

Forgive quickly.

Love deeply.

And above all, keep God at the center of it all.

You only get one life here. Don't spend it waiting for someday to be happy.

Live happy.