What Makes You Happy??

Over at Focusing On Life this week, Deanna wrote a post titled Money Can't Buy Happiness... This got me thinking about my own happiness, and what really makes me happy.

True happiness does not come from financial status or material possessions... These things can come and go. You cannot put a price tag on true happiness.

North Burleigh Beach, QLD

I believe that:
Happiness comes from your attitude to life; how you look at life not only when circumstances are great but also when they are difficult.
Happiness is also directly related to how grateful you are.
I have never been in the situation of having a lot of money or possessions. However, every day I choose to be grateful for what I have. I am thankful that we are able to pay our bills every week. I am thankful that we can eat healthy food and have the things in life we need.
Basically I am grateful for God's provision for our needs.

Currumbin Beach, QLD, looking towards Currumbin Rock

I am grateful that I have a wonderful family; my parents, my 4 siblings, my husband, our 9 children, their partners, and my grandchildren.
Although it is incredibly difficult, I am grateful for those family members who have estranged themselves from our family. I pray daily for restoration of relationships so our family can be whole.
I am grateful for my wonderful friends, who constantly encourage me and keep me grounded.
I have people in my life (both family and friends) who encourage me to be the best I can, and love me for who I am. It is these people who I choose to enjoy life with. They are the ones I am blessed to share memories with; and it is those memories that bring me great joy!

Kirra Beach, QLD

I am surrounded by the beauty of nature, which I can see, hear, touch, smell and photograph. My photography allows me to capture moments of that beauty -- for that I am incredibly grateful!
I have my faith, which provides me with comfort, peace, joy and love. I am blessed!

Kirra Beach, QLD

So, in short, my happiness is a direct result of my gratitude.
The things that really make me happy are my faith, God's provision, my family, friends, creating memories, nature, and photography.


WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY??

        

Reflections & Textures at Snapper

I've been taking a little time out to do an image clean up on my hard drive over the last few weeks. I need to free up some space before my upcoming holiday to LA, Seattle and Alaska, a gift from my wonderful parents for my *cringe* 50th birthday at the very end of the month.

The digital age has meant that too many images are taken each time I am out with my camera (I know I am not alone in that!). I find the process of going through my many thousands of images, every now and then, means that I often discover a set of images that I have never edited at all or I choose to re-edit some images, based on my continually changing and developing post processing skills.

Here are some images that fall into both categories, taken last year during a Tourism Queensland 'Instameet' at Snapper Rocks on Queensland's Gold Coast.

This particular beach is a fabulous spot for both sunrise and sunset due to its position. The expanses of sand provide wonderful reflections and the rocks provide a great variety of textures.

Linking up with these memes:

            


                       

Autumn Beauty & Gratitude

Since buying my camera as therapy and as my "happy place", I have developed brand new eyes.

I have always seen the beauty in the world around me but I now notice and appreciate it even more so; both in the bigger picture,

 ... and in the smallest and seemingly insignificant things.

I've always noticed colours and textures but I now see those with new eyes. The gift of photography has further developed and strengthened my sense of gratitude and wonder.

This new found depth of focus is the positive amongst the negative of my chronic illnesses and the residual injuries from the car accident back in Nov 2009.

You see, gratitude can be found in even the most difficult of places. You only have to look.

More posts on the topic of gratitude can be found HERE.

Linking up with the following memes:

                        

SkyWatch Friday: Teatree Bay, Noosa National Park, QLD.

After our day at Mooloolaba beach & Point Cartwright, we headed up to Noosa National Park for sunset. The usual walking track was closed so we had to take a detour route to Teatree Bay. It's such a lovely little, mostly rocky, bay with a very small beach area and interesting rock shapes which weren't easy to walk on.

We arrived before sunset and the tide was coming in rapidly. I had to constantly move back to avoid getting my camera wet.

This next photo is not the greatest due to the extreme sun flare but I wanted to capture the cloud reflections in the rock pools. It made me realize just how much I need to get some ND filters for shooting sunsets!!

I had hoped for more clouds to capture colour but the sunset was lovely just the same!

Joining in with these memes:

         

Scavenger Hunt Sunday (on Monday)

1. PERSPECTIVE

Photography is all about perspective...

2. GOLDEN

Golden hour Silver Gull

 

3. BLOOM 

Sunflowers fields near Warwick, QLD

4. DARK

Brisbane city after dark

5. LOCAL

One of the local residents at Point Danger, NSW surveying the scenery

 

This is my contribution to:

Project 366 Rewind {Week 52 + 2 days)

Day 358 (Dec 23) - Swim between the flags. Surf Rescue, Cooloongatta Beach, Gold Coast, QLD.

Day 359 (Dec 24) - "Australia for Life". Surf Lifesavers. I have the utmost respect for these young Aussies.

Day 360 (Dec 25) - Silver Gull at Kirra Point

 Day 361 (Dec 26) - Kirra Beach on a beautiful Summer day.

Day 362 (Dec 27) - Sooty Oystercatcher at Point Danger, NSW.

Day 363 (Dec 28) - Wandering Tattler at Snapper Rocks, Gold Coast, QLD.

Day 364 (Dec 29) - Snapper Rocks, Gold Coast QLD looking towards Point Danger.

Day 365 (Dec 30) - My "Best of 2012" collage for an Instagram challenge. And extremely hard task. I decided to select a variety of my favourite shots, incorporating birds, animals, sunsets, landscapes and long exposure photography. I shot over 16,000 images in 2012!!

Day 366 (Dec 31) - My "Best of 2012" birds (not including the 2 birds in my previous collage).

That's my Project 366 Rewind done!! Phew!!

Thank you to Sarah and Gina for hosting this all year. I really appreciate it!