BRING THE HAPPY ONE TINY TENDER MOMENT AT A TIME

I am a very happy person. Truly I am. I own a tattoo shop and tattooing is a really cool day gig. I have a well-recieved series from Kensington that I am truly happy with. the Deacon Chalk series is EXACTLY the kind of book I want to read and I am damn proud to have written them. I have a wonderful woman that I am married to. I have a great family that I love and am really proud of. I have some good friends. I live in a house that is exactly the kind of house I wanted with exactly the kind of yard I was looking for. But none of these are the secret to my happiness. They are sources of happiness for me, but the reason for my happiness lies inside me and today, today only, I am going to share that secret with you. You have to stop worrying about shit. Seriously. It's very simple to say. Very hard to do. Simple very rarely equates to easy in life. But in near 42 years on this planet we call home I have found that 1) things happen for a reason and 2) it all works out if you give it long enough. Now I am not telling you some pie in the sky BS. You have to get involved in life. You have to get up, get out, and get some and there are things that happen in this world that are terrible. Cancer sucks and all that. But in the everyday, man just chill. Let it come. Relax. Say the serenity prayer (not: “Now I did a job; and got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character. So let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job and then I get paid. Go run your little world.“) Drink some green tea. Whatever you have to do to stay loose and relaxed. When you get all uptight you miss the small things and the small things are what make life worth living. It's a kiss from your wife, your kids telling you they love you, or any of them doing something that makes you so damn proud of them you want to bust open. It's a banana and mayo sammich at midnight, it's an Elvis song, it's a prayer in the morning, it's a twenty spot you find in your wallet, it's the perfect drive into work when the temperature outside is crisp and just right for driving with the windows down and that song, THAT SONG, comes on the radio. It's good books, a good episode of How I Met Your Mother, a good orgasm, a good cup of coffee, a good insert your random weirdness that brings a smile to your face. (ummmmmm bacon.) Don't waste your life and your opportunity for happiness waiting for the big stuff to come along and knock you off your feet. Trust me, the big stuff that whallops you usually won't be good. It's the small stuff you have in your life every moment. Fill it from now til the end with THAT and I guarantee you will be happier. That's the secret man. And now, for the rest of my fellow word whores happiness and to drive traffic to the blog a hunk of half dressed man. (You're welcome Allison!)