Happy or sad . . it's your choice

A friend told me the other night that I might be "too happy". I thought about this for a moment and then wondered, can someone really be too happy? Or was it just the chasm between the way that he looks at the world and the way I look at the world that makes me appear to be the happier of us two?

Life gives us choices each and every day. I firmly believe that I can be happy. Or I can be sad. It really takes no more energy to be one over the other so I choose happy. I think my friend chooses sad. And maybe that's why we're friends as between the two of us the world balances, if only for one second.

This happy thing was a bit of a puzzle for me. I remember back in junior high school that my best friend was really the more popular of the two of us and I couldn't figure out why. So I watched her. And it was then that I noticed that unlike me, who walked down the halls with eyes downcast- she said hi to everyone, smiled, and that her smile just lit up her face.

"That's it?" I wondered. "Could I walk down the same hall and smile and have people respond to me?" I couldn't wait to try it out. So on the next break, I walked from my locker to my next class smiling and greeting friends and acquaintances alike. And from that moment on, I was hooked! Happy is the way to be! People responded to me just the way they did to my friend.

And if you don't believe me- try it yourself. I was in the grocery store line the other day and the cashier and bagger were lamenting the world as they passed the groceries down the line. When I got to the front, I smiled and said, "Hi, Jason" (the name tag always helps here!) He looked up startled said hi back as did the bagger. His entire demeanor changed when he actually smiled back. Yes- smiles can be contagious! Imagine a world where people smiled instead of frowned.

Now before you go all crazy like my second grade teacher who put those darn smiley face stickers on everything (hey- it was the 70's ya know!) happiness is not just a smile but an inner feeling of self. But it can all start with that simple simile.

Too happy? I doubt it. As I said, we have a choice in this world and I choose happy. How about you? What face did you put on to the world today?