Finding Harmony, Living with Joy, Happiness, and Love, How to Deal with Things Out of Your Control
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
Good morning, I didn’t see you there. How are you? I like that blouse and slacks. Blouse and slacks are terms I would like to reenter our vocabulary; those are some old words with style.
I hope you had a great weekend; we did, we filled our home with friends, went on a couple of nice hikes, went to see My Morning Jacket at Red Rocks, it was a full and amazing time to celebrate our life.
But the weekend is over, and it’s time to get back to running our machine. I took a few calls this weekend, but overall, it was quiet — not a lot of weather or auto accidents that needed to be reported.
I say the following many times a day, “I am the happiest man you will meet today.” I am not shy about sharing my happiness with others; I believe life is meant to be enjoyed and not wasted on anger, fear, or frustration.
I don’t let things get to me anymore; I used to. But I realized that carrying around hate, anger, and worry were sucking the life from me, and if I instead focused on joy, happiness, and love, my life would improve.
I was saddened by the events of this weekend; I felt pain for the families that lost loved ones, but also the families of the shooters. Imagine being a parent of a child that just killed 20 people; I pray for those families as well.
I should reference if you didn’t see the news, we had another mass shooting in El Paso, TX and one in Dayton, OH. Both young men with manifesto’s, mentally challenged young men that took advantage of our gun laws.
I don’t own a gun, but I believe in one’s right to have one. We need to make some changes, but I’m not familiar enough with the current laws, so I’ll keep my thoughts to myself.
Using this event as an example, how do I remain so joyful and happy when many people died? I understand that there are things in this world that are out of my control. I have compassion for others who are hurting or losing others, but I have no control or can personally impact their situation.
I tend to focus on those around me, my family, my team of co-workers, and my friends. If those three groups are happy, I’m happy. If one of them is sad or in some pain, I’ll do what I can to help them find happiness.
Our love of life has benefits. We are constantly meeting new people that are becoming fast friends. Our joy and happiness are like a battery pack for our friends; they see us, our life, our joy, and approach to life and want to be a part of our tribe.
Personally, I get direct messages from people that I will never meet in person that thank me for my daily words of inspiration and challenge to societal norms. Some people like my messages and people that don’t usually save their criticism.
The key to living a happy life is to focus on what God-given gifts you have not trying to be all things to all people. I’m a simple man with a few gifts, and I use those gifts daily. I don’t try to do things I’m not good at doing allowing others in my life to tackle those items.
Please understand I do see barriers, but I also know that no matter the barrier, I can figure out a way to go around, over, or underneath anything that gets in my way.
If you find yourself upset, angry, or frustrated, ask yourself why? Why are you feeling the way you do? What event or thing has you feeling less than amazing? Whatever it is, ask yourself if you have control or can make a small step to fix that issue. Once you do something small, let that pain go and focus on being happy.
The fact that you can read these words is a miracle. I understand there are times in life when we are going to be sad or unhappy, and I give grace to those life events. I also understand those life events are few and far between. It’s ok to be down, but don’t’ stay down for long, get up and move on. There are lessons in every tragedy.
You are reading the words of a joyful and happy man that lives life at 11. I hope you too are living this life and if not encourage you to do the work you need to do to experience the wonders of life. Life is too short to be miserable; it’s a hell of a lot better living with a smile instead of a frown.
If you are feeling down, do something good for someone else. It works every time, trust me, this is one of my little secrets, and I want to thank Bill Keller for the reminder.
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."