BECAUSE I'M HAPPY*

Tonight a Cab Driver told me to forget the fare because the ride to the nearest subway turned out to be less than 2 blocks away. I wished him a blessing to his day and life and gratefully thanked him.

A moment later, when I smilingly told the subway fare collector he was amazed.

He said though that smiles are what make his day worth living. I told him that I think Smiles are addictive and contagious. He said yeah, something like yawns, they are sort of automatic.

Yawns however, don’t make us Smile. We only pass them on because we can’t help it.

A Smile however, let’s us Pay it Forward. That Smile will keep getting passed on all day. If I ever thought of a reason to Smile, even if it seems a bit of an effort sometimes, this has to be as good of a reason as any.

Earlier tonight as I dragged my sorry Butt out of the house to go to a social event I was thinking two things: The first was that I was Bored, Bored, Bored. The second that like Goldilocks, I had a feeling that everything tonight was going to be too hot or too cold or whatever, but I doubted there would be anything that was just right. Guess what? As usual I was wrong.

I went to hear a talk about the problems people, well, smart people face. I wasn’t expecting much.

Yeah, last night I had insomnia, but that doesn’t happen all the time, thank God.

Sometimes I over think junk…but then I get bored and figure it’s time to do something else and besides it will probably look better in the morning, for example, after I get some sleep.

However, not long ago I saw a documentary about being ‘Happy’ and I decided being Happy was a very good idea. For sure, better than what I had been doing anyway…

Studies now show that 50% of happiness is genetic, 10% is environmental and 40% is up to you/me/us. How is this possible?

Anyway, Pharrell Williams in his song ‘Happy’ had a good idea. I didn’t know that the song came from the movie Despicable Me 2 but I like to go around humming stuff…so why not this. Tonight I looked up the words and I like it even better.

Now I feel happy again. Why? Probably because I decided to be.

Trust me, no one wants to know you when you’re not, so unless you plan to spend a lot of time alone, I figure, decide to GET OVER YOURSELF.

The sooner you teach yourself to get over yourself, the sooner you have a chance to be happy.

However, I figure I didn’t get my bad habits overnight…so, I doubt I can get rid of them immediately either. It might take some practice.

Therefore, I advocate putting a Smile on your face immediately and keeping it there until it is a symbol of real happiness. This may seem to be fake at first, but not for long.

Besides it will not require you to fake it for long. In fact, shortly after you meet someone and greet them with a smile, you will get one back and over and over again to everyone you meet. It’s like an instant return.

You’ve only the pretty meagre grouchiness, brooding and scowl to lose, so why not give Smiling a chance.

Follow up by FINALLY, doing a few things you actually enjoy (even if only in your spare time at first) and soon you will be on your way to be an regularly happy person too.

Good Luck. May happiness make tomorrow better than today. Soon you too might want to ‘clap along because you feel like a room without a roof’ and ‘clap along if you feel that’s what you want to do’.* BECAUSE YOU’RE HAPPY TOO.

*Song – Happy – Pharrell Williams 2013 – soundtrack for movie Despicable Me 2