As we left church on Sunday, I ran down the "to do" list in my head. Realizing there would be no time for fun in the two hours we had before we had to go to the in-laws, I started to feel sorry for myself and the fact that I don't get to do anything I want on Mother's Day.

But, then, I looked around and realized there were a lot of people who didn't have a mother's house to rush off to on Sunday (let alone two mothers' houses to rush off to). For many, Mother's Day is a painful reminder of what they've lost.

And, suddenly, my jam-packed Mother's Day filled with bathing kids, folding laundry, getting ready for Monday and rushing from one house full of relatives to another house full of relatives didn't seem so bad.

That's the key to happiness (or at least the key that's been working for me, lately) -- when discontent starts to set in -- consider those less fortunate than you. It may sound simplistic, but it works and it reminds you to be grateful for the gifts in your life...even if sometimes they feel like burdens.

Here's me & the girls with my annual Mother's Day gift. They hand painted these pots several years ago and each year Dan takes them to the garden center to pick out flowers and they pot them.