Somewhere Over the Rainbow

"Happiness is as a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." Nathaniel Hawthorne



I’ve always been fascinated with the Wizard of Oz. Just a great story and it amazes me how well it was made in 1939 when it wasn’t long before that year movie-goers were watching black and white silent films.

Dorothy dreams and ‘sings’ of somewhere over the rainbow. Part of the lyrics goes like this;

Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds
Are far behind me
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops that's where you'll find me

I look at some people today who are singing the same song in their life. They’re wishing for all their troubles to melt away. Constantly looking for happiness outside themselves through a different job, a bigger house, a different spouse or a different land. Always changing but never finding happiness. I have to believe they have seen the most watched movie ever.

Dorothy, wishing for a better place, only invited more problems into her life. She spent the entire time trying to get back to where she was after realizing what was really important. Dorothy had to deal with evil witches and flying monkeys. She was duped in believing in the Magical Oz could solve her and her friends problems.

How often do people bring more problems in their lives by chasing happiness? How many people divorce for a new relationship only to find the next one no better? How many people do you know that are continually chasing happiness and never finding it?

Learning to be content is as important as assuring you body gets the proper nutrition. Like Dorothy, learn you can’t chase happiness. Learn there’s no place like home. Learn to be content with yourself.

Chase dreams for the right reasons, find happiness in yourself.

Now, stand up, put your feet together, click your heals together and say, ‘there’s no place like home.”

Don’t be like the little kitten who was told the happiness was at the end of his tail. The poor kitten spent hours each day going in circles trying to catch it. After endless days of not catching it, the kitten went to the wiser, older cat and asked her how come she didn’t chase her tail. The wise cat told the little kitten that her tail goes wherever she does, she doesn’t have to chase it.