For those of you happy people that still haven’t quite figured it out.
Once upon a time there was a young woman who truly knew how to enjoy and appreciate her life. Although life was not easy for her, she went to work everyday happy to have a job, and happy to have her freedom and independence. She got in her beat-up VW rabbit, and happily made her 1 hour and 30 minute drive to her job. There she learned everything she could and eventually she became the boss. She was young for it, no doubt, but she was determined to do her very best, never call in sick, cover shifts and work very hard. And so the story goes…
Then one day her life became sad, and her heart was broken into a million tiny pieces. She could have given up, thrown in the towel and called it a day but instead she kept focused on the good things that her life was full of. The toddler that visited with her mother who collected yogurt containers, the shaggy dog that was tied up every morning that greeted the doorway when she arrived, the homeless man that lived behind the boxes out back that always told her a joke, and the endless people that shopped throughout the years that she watched grow, change jobs, get married and had children. She smiled when they appeared, she made small talk, she listened; they brought little pieces of joy as they laughed together and she looked forward to seeing them each and every day. She kept up good relations with all her coworkers too, and often went out after work; they celebrated birthdays, danced the night away, and there was a whole lot of laughter getting through during her tough years. Eventually the pain she felt inside was eased as she learned gratitude by taking in the these little moments between the sadness. Slowly she healed again.
Then one day she received her first and only complaint from a customer and it read. ‘Such annoyingly happy people should not work with the public. How can someone always be so happy, it is unnatural!‘ Her boss at the time said,
“We don’t take these kinds of complaints seriously, but I can give you advice. Never change. It is always easier to be mean and hard on the outside trying to protect yourself from ever getting hurt by those around you. People will always be jealous or simply unhappy with themselves, it is a reflection of them not you. Stay open and loving, and you will always win in life.”
The woman thought about it. It is a choice to be happy, a muscle to keep fit, a reflex in the face of diversity to decide to stay positive, and to keep those happy moments on the forefront. We can all let the negative stuff get us down. it is a choice. We can all let life kick us over and again, but if you can, stay true to who you are. Get up each time you fall. But above all, stay you.
I know sometimes a happy person is a reminder that others are not, acting as a mirror showing others what they are lacking. Yet, most happy people have their ups and downs like everyone else, however they just have a better coping mechanism in place to deal with life’s tribulations.
