being happy...

are you happy? mark twain once said that whoever was happy would make others happy as well...and if you think about that...you'll realize the wisdom of that simple sentence...and wouldn't we all prefer to spend our time with people who are happy?

unfortunately, the reverse is true as well...depressed people, the ones always finding fault with something...always finding something to complain about...always being critical...can drag you down into the marshy depths of their miserable state of miasma in a nano-second...

there are literally hundreds of books written on the state of happiness...but one can't help but notice that in today's world there are many unhappy people, maybe because there aren't enough of us spreading the contagion of happiness...i think a lot of people in my generation and older are guilty of this because we spend a lot of time reminiscing about how much happier we were in the fifties, sixties, seventies & eighties...how much nicer life seemed when it was less complicated and there was a true sense of patriotism...

i am not one who speaks much about political stuff...but since this is my blog...i will put my two cents in ;-)

today, the political division is ugly and self-serving and lends itself to a lot of grumbling...have we ever in our history seen a country so divided as in the last several years? where is our camaraderie, our sense of oneness, our americanism, if you will? the political schism grows every day as democrats and republicans spend inordinate amounts of time and energy in verbal warfare, which only serves to bring out the worst in both of them...and don't even get me started on the newspapers & news stations whose sole purpose seems to be to remind us of how wrong everything is and how much we have to be unhappy about...and see what it does?? here i am grumbling about grumbling...

yes, there are many things wrong with our country today...but, we have much to be grateful for...much to appreciate...and much to be happy about...if more of us spent time being happy about all that's right...who knows? it might even spread all the way to washington, d.c...oh the thought!

what i know for sure...is that positive energy attracts positive energy...and happiness is contagious...

thinking positively...being kind...practicing happiness...and being optimistic may seem simplistic to some...but as far as i'm concerned...if we don't start practicing it now...we may get too far down that slippery slope to ever recover the brilliant, world-leading, positive example we once established for people of hope everywhere...

some of us, the lucky ones...are genetically wired to be happier than others, but whatever your happpiness set point is...find it...remember how it feels, and strive always to recapture that singular sensation...if you need to be pro-active in order to log onto that feeling, here's a clue: making someone else happy automatically makes you happy...try testing me (and mark twain) on that...

other prescriptions: watch a sunset...revisit photos of family & friends...study a rose...hug your favorite person...hug your pet...remember something funny...walk in the woods...eat ice cream...eat chocolate...eat both at the same time...work in your garden...and, of course (as a fashionista...i need to say) shop!

so go about it...spread some happiness today...