Euphoria. Nirvana. Serenity. Cloud nine. Heaven on earth.

Euphoria. Nirvana. Serenity. Cloud nine. Heaven on earth.
I find these blissful places when I smell the rich home cook meals my mom makes, when I laugh and smile so much my belly aches and my cheeks hurt, when I hear the angels sing in the symphonies, when babies smile at me, when we won football games and everyone would sing the school song without shame, when I get those goose bumps after hearing something inspiring, when I smell the rain, when I'm on the countryside and I can actually see the constellations in the black velvet sky, when the fire in the fire place crackles and whispers, when the fall wind blows through my hair, when I watch the sunrise and set, when I hear the heartbeat of the one I love, when embraces speak louder than any I love you's, when I finally come home, when I'm in church and His presence overwhelms me, and in those moments where there may not be anything special happening in that instant, but for those few short moments it seems that all the smoke has lifted, the seas quiet, the chains are broken, gravity weakens, air freshens, and everything slows down. Colors are suddenly brighter, old noise turns to music, and my heart starts to swell with...with.... I guess this is where language fails us, because a warm, fuzzy feeling just doesn't seem to quite capture the nirvana perception I am looking for. My heart feels heavy but light, strong yet fragile, and warm yet cool. I feel so helplessly happy that I stay in that paused moment and soak it all in before it fades.
 For me, I find these places in the little things in life. I try to live every day to the fullest. What other way is there to live? So many people stumble through life looking for some big beautiful thing to happen to them and while their eyes are bigger than their stomachs, the truly, miraculously, beautiful becoming's are right under their feet. As they trudge though life's ups and downs they are always searching but never really seeing. So many fail to see the breathtaking little miracles that we are blessed with every hour of every day because they are consumed with wanting more than they already have. I don't need to win a million dollars, travel the world, or become famous to feel euphoria. My land of milk and honey is wherever the sun shines and the people I care about are happy. As long as they're happy I don't have a reason not to be happy too.