10 Happy Things

So many articles and stories nowadays are about “12 Problems Only Natural Blondes Can Relate To” or “10 Problems Naturally Skinny People Face” or “The Hardships That Surround Short People.” Why?

Why are so many stories in a negative point of view and always focused on the problems we face in the world? Granted, I understand many are meant to be jokes, but nonetheless it can drive negative thoughts into people’s heads. Problems that natural blondes face? How about the perks natural blondes face instead? How about we write more stories about moving and thinking past the problems and thinking positive thoughts. It’s all in the way you write a story. We can choose to write the negative things and the problems or we can choose to write the happy, positive things.

Not everything in this world is bad. Yes, it may seem like it at times but it’s not true. There are so many amazing things to be grateful for and happy for if we all just took the time to stop and think about it a little bit. So, right now, I’m going to name a few things. What I want you, the reader, to do is to clear your head. Just stop thinking. Then read it and remember the good things in life. Afterwards feel free to get back to the real world, but this time I hope you go with one more hop in your step and one more happy thought in your head. Without further ado,

10 HAPPY THINGS:

1. Life. It’s as simple as that. We are here and we are alive. Whether you believe in God or the Big Bang Theory, something in the universe wanted us to exist. Some days may seem like a struggle to get out of bed, but on those days remember that you have the ability to get out of bed because you woke up and are still breathing and full of life. Some people go to sleep and aren’t as lucky. So jump out of bed, drink that coffee and get on with the rest of your spectacular day! If we let it, life can indeed make us happy.

Stand on a rock overlooking water and shout into the void that you are alive! Just like this person is (probably) doing. Photo from mint.com

2. Free will. Not only are we alive, but we have the opportunity to make our own decisions and choices each and every day. We can choose to stay in bed or we can choose to get up. We can choose to go to college or not. We can choose the path of life we go down. There will always be obstacles and struggles blocking our path but it is left up to us whether we jump over those obstacles or if we fall flat in front of them. It’s true that in some parts of the world people’s free will is hindered with war and corrupt governments but inside each and every one us is a unique brain with unique thoughts that push us further down our path. We are all meant to succeed in this world. It’s just up to us whether we do so or not. Our choices have the potential to make us happy.

3. Movies. Or books. Or comics. Or TV shows. Or games. Whatever kind of entertainment you like, it makes you happy right? Seeing or reading a romantic love story or a superhero conquering a villain takes you away from reality for a little while and creates a new world to live in. That new world is special to you and when you find someone who appreciates your world – BAM – a connection is made and that entertainment has created an entirely new reason to make you happy. Why? Because now you have someone to share your happiness with. And that’s pretty cool. Entertainment can make us happy.

Go ahead and cheer for whatever makes you happy! Photo from chicagotraveler.com

4. Your body. Ever heard the saying that “your body is your temple”? Well, it’s true. No one else on earth has the body that you have. And though you may wish you were skinnier or taller or shorter or had longer hair or straighter teeth or smaller feet none of it matters. You are beautiful no matter what. And I know you don’t believe me, but it’s true. Society’s definition of beautiful is inaccurate and once you understand that you begin to understand what I am telling you right now: you are beautiful. Beauty comes in so many different shapes, sizes, and colors. Society tries to define beauty, but the truth is…beauty can’t be defined. Learn it. Live by it. And love your body. It’s the only one you’ve got. Your body can make you happy.

5. The weather. Do you ever have those days where you wake up and aren’t in a great mood? Then you realize it’s raining outside and it somehow puts you in a better mood because it seems like the weather felt how you were feeling? Yeah, me too. The weather is pretty darn amazing. When it’s sunny outside it creates a picture like no other. When it’s storming out with lightning and thunder there’s a live show in the sky for us all to see. The weather can indeed make us happy.

6. Comradery. Many of us can probably relate to this now more than ever with the World Cup going on. Even if you don’t like soccer, if you turn on a game and just take a look in that stadium, you see a million people all joined together to cheer for one end goal (#punonsoccer). Whether their team wins or loses, together that giant group of people either drink to victory or drink for a new game. Comradery is a cool thing. It takes a group of people who seem different on the outside and shows them that they’re not so different after all. Comradery can make us happy.

Do you see the comradery obviously present? Because I sure do. (PS – USA! USA! USA!) Photo from usatoday.com

7. Music. Music is one of the greatest things we have in life. Whether it’s the new song on the radio that speaks to you or whether it’s the random beat you can’t get out of your head, music unravels our true desires of life and puts them in a way we think we understand them. Music can completely turn a mood around. It can send a message to someone when we’re too scared to say it ourself. Music can bring people together and it can create a community out of a group of people. Music is powerful and if anyone doubts that, then they are just plain wrong. Simple as that. Music can make us happy.

8. Emotions. It’s true that some people have it biologically bred in them that they can’t feel pain or joy, but for most of us we have a wide range of emotions to choose between. Emotions are amazing because they remind us that we are alive and that we are human. They connect us in ways that nothing else could do. When there is a worldwide tragedy, the world mourns together. When there is great happiness, we celebrate together. The complexity of emotions also reminds us that, though we think otherwise, we are not in control. They say you can’t choose who you love and it’s true. It’s also true for every other emotion: you can’t exactly choose what you feel. You can choose what you do with your emotions, however. If you’re angry, you can choose to fight or to take a breath and relax. If you’re happy you can choose to spread that cheer to others or keep it to yourself. Emotions are a guide for us. Though sometimes we may think otherwise, it’s better to feel even pain than nothing at all. What we do with our emotions can make us happy.

The choice is up to you: which will you choose? Photo from cbc.ca

9. Running. Or…biking, swimming, hiking, roller blading. Whatever exercise it is, it makes you feel alive. The rush of oxygen in your lungs and the adrenaline seeping throughout your body creates a magical kind of happiness. Even if we think we hate it in the moment, the feeling afterwards of success and healthiness and energy creates a bubble of joy that no one can pop. Adrenaline can make us happy.

10. People. Perhaps a controversial choice to be on this “happy” list, I truly think people make us happy. All of them – family, friends, and strangers affect us in ways we don’t even realize in the moment. That person who picks up your wallet when you drop it keeps your faith in humanity alive. And that person who lets the door hit you in the face reminds you to be the kind of person that holds the door for others. The connections we make in life are so important. They shape who we become in life. With them we are an abstract painting on the canvas of life and without them, we are but a simple nail holding the painting up. Sometimes people let us down. Sometimes people commit crimes that make us question humanity. But other times, people exceed expectations. Other times, people create a better world to live in. People can make us happy.

Be a color in this painting. Don’t be the nail holding it up. Photo from dailypainters.com

Yes, most of the things I mentioned aren’t really materialistic things. And that’s because not everyone has materialistic things. Not everyone has a comfy bed to sleep in or an air conditioner to keep them cool in the summer. What I was trying to do was come up with items past the materialistic ones to remind us that happiness comes from the first thing I mentioned in the list: life. More specifically, living life. All the money in the world can’t buy happiness so why bother trying? I joke around saying that money could buy me happiness by paying for college or paying for me to travel the world, but really I realize I’m the happiest when I’m doing something I love to do or when I’m with people I love. Yes, materialistic things are great but it would do us all some good to look past those things that bring us surface-level happiness and instead find the things that make our soul the happiest.

Happiness is all around us. It’s just a matter of where you’re looking. I hope you find happiness today and always.

Death

People die. It’s the sad truth. Every day hundreds, thousands, of people take their last breaths in this world. As a Catholic, I believe in an afterlife of Heaven or Hell. But as a curious human interested in other cultures and religions, I still question if that is the true fate of our souls. I think it would be amazing for reincarnation to exist. For you to leave one life and enter another, completely different life. In a way, that theory even makes sense. After all, how many times have you had a deja vu moment? And I forget what, but I think in some religion it is believed that the cries of being born are the screams of your death in your previous life. I think that’s pretty cool. Thinking about what happens to you after death is intriguing to me, but dealing with the thought of death now is still sad. Still scary.

I feel great empathy when someone dies. I feel the sadness that their family and friends feel. Not to the extreme, of course, but this past year of 2013 had a lot of deaths in it. Of people I knew; of people close to people I knew; and even people I didn’t really know. At my high school we used to stand guard outside, praying over the family and friends of the deceased as they drove to the burial site of their loved one. Being in college, things were different when someone died. I couldn’t just go stand guard outside anymore. At times I couldn’t even be near anyone who knew the deceased. Over break, though, a friend’s dad died. It was a death no one saw coming and I didn’t understand it. I still don’t really. I still think sometimes that the next softball game I go to of my friend’s he’ll still be there coaching on the sidelines. But he won’t be. He was the nicest man and their entire family are some of the nicest people I have ever met in my life. When I heard about the death one of the main things in my mind was: “why do bad things happen to good people?” I don’t know the answer and I don’t think I ever will. People say it’s so they can learn from it, but what lesson could be so important  that a death has to occur? I don’t know.

I don’t really like thinking about death or about the people I know who have died because it makes me sad. I try to just think of the happy memories with them or memories that I had heard about them when they were happy but the nagging thought always comes back that I won’t ever see them again. Not in this world, at least.

Every day different people have to deal with the death of somebody. Because, well, people die. And it hurts to see them go and I don’t think that hurt will ever fully go away, but you pretend that it does. You pretend that you’re okay, even if you’re not, because what else would you do? So, the epiphany at hand is simply this: people die, and it hurts. But eventually the hurt will subside because you will realize that something has to happen to us after we die. Something. Anything. Because, as the book “Looking for Alaska” by John Green states, “We cannot be born and we cannot die. Like all energy, we can only change shapes and sizes and manifestations.”

To all those who have lost somebody: they may be gone from this world, but they’re not gone forever. So smile and enjoy life for them since they can no longer do it themselves. Wherever they are, I assure you they must be happy so you should be happy, too. It’s what they would want.

Overcoming A Challenge

They say people come into your life for a reason. There’s a hidden sentence behind this belief though that we need to pay attention to: people leave our lives for a reason as well.

We interact with so many people in our day to day lives. And before we truly realize it, each person has an impact on us. The ones who get close to us – our family, friends, and significant others…they make an even greater impact in our lives. They change us. Mostly for the good, but sometimes for the bad as well. In the end, though, it is not really them who change us, but it is we who change ourselves. The people come in and give us directions on our life journey and some options for us, but it is ultimately up to us to make the decision of where to go and who to become.

Every single day we make decisions that create an image of what kind of person we are. It’s up to us to make the right decisions. Life is difficult; but it’s been said that we’re never given anything in life that we can’t handle. And the things that come in and make us question this belief? They’re just challenges. That’s all. And anyone would admit that it feels great to overcome a challenge.