Leilani, one of my subscribers to Inner Kiddies wrote to me in response to one of my daily surprises (a free email I send out that is either uplifting, humorous, thought provoking or just plain silly. Here was the message she responded to followed by her response: Einstein said, “We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” While I helped create an unhappy marriage for 15 years I NEVER took advantage of my sense of humor as a powerful tool to change my circumstances. We can't be angry and joyful at the same time. Pick between the two today and watch your problems resolve or escalate.
Leilani wrote: “No kidding! I have a special talent. I can see the bright side of absolutely anything. I’m not an eternal optimist. Those people drive me nuts. I’m just drawn like a magnet to silver linings—even when they’re rusty.
“Several years ago, my best friend and I were driving halfway across the country. I had a good car, but a dummy spare, and I’d wanted a real spare. However, a real spare required a real rim, and rims were quite expensive, so I’d kept putting it off. Late one night we were run off the road by a semi truck that swerved into our lane. We flew through the air with the greatest of ease—hitting the ground several times on the way—and finally came to rest upside down in the fast lane of the other side of the freeway. We climbed out of my totally smashed car (only my atlas lay between my head and the pavement) and staggered out on the road. A few moments later, as we stood in the median, shaken and shaking, I said, “Check it out! I’m not going to have to spring for that spare!” My grandma once said to me, ‘You’re a lot happier when you’re happy.’ I like being happy.”
I like being happy too. I learned it from my parents (mostly my dad). I remember once they spent a whole week planting a lawn. They rented a seed spreader and one of those rollers that presses the seeds down and every day they were back outside working on the new lawn. Our house was on a slight hill and about 40 feet from the road. (It was enough of a slope to get a nice ride out of a sled in the winter.) No sooner had they finished the hard work we had a rain storm typical of Washington's benevolence and my parents, my sister and I watched the storm from the living room window. We also watched all the grass seed get washed down the hill into the gutter. I think it was Dad who started to laugh first and then Mom chimed in. I was 13 and I remember laughing too probably because my parent's joy always rubbed off on me. Then my dad said, "We are going to have the grassiest gutter in the neighborhood!"
Remember, you’re happier when you’re happy.