Life, Liberty, & the Pursuit of Happiness?

Happy Friday!

I can’t believe tomorrow is the last day of September and Sunday is the 1^st of October! Where has the time gone? Right now I’m sitting at my desk, Carrie Bradshaw style, wondering what the rest of this year holds… Maybe that’ll be another post.

Today, I want to talk about the pursuit of happiness. What really is the pursuit of happiness in our own thoughts? I mean it says it in the Declaration of Independence: “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”.

One of the reasons I named my blog “My Hearts in Paris” is because I fell in love (from afar) with the look of the French lifestyle. The effortless way women dress and sport the au natural makeup look, the endless outdoor cafes that serve café crème and croissants, the romantic strolls down the Seine, and the days upon days spent in the Louvre quelle incroyable! I knew I wanted to be Parisian Chic. I read books upon books on how to live more like the French. I watched Coco Avent Chanel until I no longer needed to read the subtitles to understand what was going on.

The glory in the French lifestyle is their approach to life. When I was 19 I did an internship in Paris for 3 months and it was such a transitional time in my life where I got to experience the real world one French cobblestone at a time. When I was 20 I commemorated the event by getting my first tattoo on my foot, the French phrase “C’est La Vie”, which translates to “That’s Life”. I couldn’t think of anything more true. 

Now, back here in the states we seem to like to do things a little differently. It may be our tendency to strive to be first or it may be the sight of the American Dream constantly on the horizon; either way we need to sit back and take a deep breath. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Done? Ok, as I was saying, what is the pursuit of YOUR happiness? What is it you are striving for day in and out? What goals are you putting off because of societal responsibilities? I used to think that I had to work to make money to buy a house to have kids to retire and then pass peacefully in my sleep just like the ending in the Notebook. Well that was then and this is now. Whatever you believe, you are here for a purpose.

Everyone always puts off their happiness because of something/someone else. When a plane is in distress and the oxygen masks fall you are supposed to put yours on first before helping your neighbor. Let me repeat that in case you weren’t listening: PUT YOURSELF FIRST. I think one of the reasons people go through a mid-life crisis is because they go through life tending to others and then wake up one day and ask themselves, “What have I done for me?”

I know a girl who is constantly (trying) to diet, she always says the same thing to me, “I’m gonna start Monday!” I used to just nod and say me too. Then I started to realize something, with any goal or dream it always starts with the sentence, “I’ll start _______.” Enough is enough!

Start right now.

Don’t allow yourself to feel guilty for having a cheat day and then decided to start Monday because you already ruined your diet. Start right now. No one knows what you’re doing and no one is going to judge you.

I’m not the best when it comes to my diet and exercise but what I do is focus on today and the 24 hours in front of me.

My pursuit of happiness is finding the right job for me, finding the right workout and diet regime, and finding enough time for date night with my boyfriend. That is what’s important to me. You see, I think the French have it all figured out, they just roll with the punches and ce qui sera sera (what will be will be)!

Here are some of my favorite French proverbs to get you through the weekend!

Qui Vivra Verra = She who lives, shall see

Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir = It is better to prevent than to heal

Petit a petit, l’oiseau fait son nid = Little by little, the bird makes its nest

Qui court deux liebres a la fois, n’en prend aucun = Who runs after two hares at the same time, catches none

Qui n’avance pas, recule = Who does not move forward, recedes 

Quand on a pas ce que l’on aime, il faut aimer ce que l’on a = When one doesn’t have the things that one loves, one must love what one has

Il n’y a pas plus sourd que celui qui ne veut pas entendre = No one is as deaf as the one who does not want to listen

xoxo,

Jules