{"id":2261,"date":"2011-08-05T01:41:41","date_gmt":"2011-08-05T01:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/?p=2261"},"modified":"2011-08-06T02:32:03","modified_gmt":"2011-08-06T02:32:03","slug":"one-happy-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/2011\/08\/05\/one-happy-island\/","title":{"rendered":"One Happy Island"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently wrote a post about the fourteenth wedding anniversary excursion<\/a> I went on with my husband. Many readers saw the sunset photos and inquired where one can find such surreal beauty.<\/p>\n

The answer is Aruba.<\/p>\n

And believe it or not, the sunsets are only a fraction of its appeal.<\/p>\n

This island is very much in its natural state, void of expensive landscaping and \u201cshowy\u201d sights. \u00a0This island and its people are authentic, satisfied with simply showcasing their natural splendor without worry of living up to typical vacation destination standards or expectations.<\/p>\n

I slowly realized the island had a motto when I began seeing the same three words everywhere. In fact, the slogan was affixed to every license plate on the island.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Aruba: One Happy Island. <\/em><\/p>\n

At first, I was merely delighted and amused by the fitting phrase of this welcoming piece of paradise. But the more I thought about it, I realized it was a motto worth adopting.<\/p>\n

What if I could be consistently happy in my own skin regardless of what the media claims as fit or beautiful?<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

What if I could be happy with my life pursuits regardless of what society deems as a worthy life goal or defines as success?<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

What if I could be happy with who I am without the affirmation or justification from others?<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

What if I could be a happy island?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

As a sensitive, \u201cpeople pleaser\u201d all my life, it is sometimes difficult to be a happy island. Too often, I allow outside factors to determine my own happiness.<\/p>\n

But on this Hands Free journey, I am working on grasping what matters.\u00a0 And something that matters is being happy with ME and not allowing outside forces to threaten or undermine that happiness.<\/p>\n

I am fairly certain I have made progress in the area of self-validation during my past year of living Hands Free, but now I have a slogan to inspire me in those moments of insecurity and doubt.<\/p>\n

One Happy Island. <\/em><\/p>\n

Thank you, Aruba.<\/p>\n

And as if fate knew about my determination to live up to my newfound motto, I was tested.<\/p>\n

In fact, the test was waiting for me when I opened my computer upon arriving home from my trip.<\/p>\n

Oh really, Rachel? One Happy Island? Let\u2019s just see about that.<\/em><\/p>\n

I debuted this blog eight months ago and never once had I received a mean comment. That is, until a few days ago. Granted, I have received a few comments that respectfully challenged my Hands Free concept or politely questioned a view I expressed in one of my posts, but those types of comments are quite different from a personal attack on me as a person and a mother.<\/p>\n

The comment in question pertained to my blog entry, \u201cMust You Go So Soon<\/a>?\u201d In that post, I describe the life lessons my family has gleaned in our efforts to stabilize the water in our new fish tank\u2026a necessity to keeping the fish alive.<\/p>\n

Without any editing, here is what \u201cTom\u201d wrote:<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/em>I think Your a little nuts, sorry to break the news to you but fish don't have feelings. This isn't finding Nemo. I really think your parenting skills suck. And your kids are going to grow up to be sheltered sissies. That have no clue how this big bad world really is.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

A year ago, I may have read this and gotten a bit offended. I may have had to seek affirmation from a few talented blog writers like Lori<\/a> or Wendy<\/a> who have posted glowing reviews of my writing and my parenting skills.<\/p>\n

A year ago, I surely would have had to show this harsh response to my husband or best friend so they could tell me Tom\u2019s comment was about as accurate as his grammar usage.<\/p>\n

And I surely could not have gone to sleep without drafting a curt and disdainful rebuke to this man who clearly missed the entire point of the post.<\/p>\n

Lastly, Pre-Hands Free Rachel may have actually considered his words and wondered if there was any truth to them…not once, but many times….unable to simply let it go.<\/p>\n

Now things are different. Thank God, things are different. <\/em><\/p>\n

Do you want to know what I did when I read Tom\u2019s comment?<\/p>\n

I laughed.<\/p>\n

In fact, I laughed out loud.<\/p>\n

I laughed the way I do when my daughters and I watch silly YouTube videos like \u201cCharlie Bit My Finger<\/a>,\u201d or \u201cBaby Dancing To Beyonce<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

And before I slid Tom\u2019s comment into the deep, dark blogosphere \u201ctrash,\u201d I had one more good laugh.<\/p>\n

Then three words came to my mind: One Happy Island.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m getting closer. Yes, I am.<\/p>\n

Thanks, Tom.<\/p>\n

****************************************<\/p>\n

How often do we allow other people\u2019s cruel words, negative comments or harsh criticisms threaten what we know is true about ourselves? Whether it is from a co-worker, neighbor, family member, friend, the media, or even our own inner voice, life can be littered with insults. But it\u2019s up to us what we do with them. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Being joyful is a choice\u2026letting other people sabotage it is, too. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

So the next time someone tries to ruin your party, shrug it off; have a laugh. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Retreat to your island and be happy. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

*I leave you with a photo of my ultimate One Happy Island role model wearing her new One Happy Island t-shirt. My four-year-old daughter loves life. Actually, she loves\u00a0her<\/strong><\/em> life and nothing anyone can say or do will change her mind or her attitude about that.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The epitome of One Happy Island..<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently wrote a post about the fourteenth wedding anniversary excursion I went on with my husband. Many readers saw the sunset photos and inquired where one can find such surreal beauty. The answer is Aruba. And believe it or not, the sunsets are only a fraction of its appeal. This island is very much […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,246,262],"tags":[501,500,502,504,503],"gutentor_comment":11,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/IMG_5188-e1311989377465.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1fUJF-At","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}