Today Is a New Day

People have good selective memories. They remember two things: the times they felt like shit and the times they felt unstoppable. The goal is to turn the times you feel like shit into times you feel unstoppable. You've been there. I've been there. We've all been at the lowest of the lows. It doesn't matter how old you are or what mistakes you've made or what you've had to endure, because you are still here. There is always an opportunity to turn it all around. You just have to want it to happen.

Why wouldn't someone want that to happen? That, my friend, is a good question. One of the most frustrating things is wanting something for someone more than they want it for themselves. Happiness and courage and love are feelings you can bestow onto someone else, you can cram it down their throats, force yourself to believe that they are happy/courageous/loved but if they don't feel it for themselves, then it's like racing someone who decided to take a nap instead. You're going forward at full speed and they're...well, they're taking a nap. There are people who you are going to love that want to hold onto their pasts, their hurt, any struggles that they've faced and leave room for nothing else. On any given day, you might even be this person. You know why they hang on? It's because it's what they know. It's what they can handle.

If there are people who think all they can handle is broken hearts and deflated spirits, then that is a choice I don't have to understand but you seriously can't tell me that there are people who wake up and say 'I sure hope I feel like shit today!" My mom used to have this book called '14,000 Things to Be Happy About'. Now you have to think that if there was a person that had enough time and enough audacity to sit aroud and think of that many things to be happy about and write it down AND have it published, then you can find ONE thing to be happy about. Here I will help, a banana split. I'm allergic to bananas, you say. I am lactose intolerant, you lament. You know what then, slurp up the chocolate around the banana and eat soy ice cream, I am sure they have it.

I am not insensitive. Nor am I immune to tragedy or broken hearts. Like I said we've all been there. But I also know for every ten things that have been devastating in my life, there is someone who has had eleven. I know there will be times when you feel there is nothing to be happy about and that's okay because unfortunately, that's true. But doesn't it at least make you feel a little better knowing that when you're ready, there is at least one thing waiting to make you smile?

You don't have to be an optimist. You don't have to force a smile or never be sad, but happiness will only follow you so far before it stops and waits for you to be ready. And all you have to do is try. One thing to be happy about a day. It's not that much to handle. Are you ready?

How 'bout now?