I sense that we've been moving towards a new way of being and it makes me pretty nervous. In the 80s and even in the 90s, people spent quite a bit of energy trying to be cheerful. Music was pretty upbeat (yes, there is a something redeeming about disco!), models smiled, clothes were colourful, sidekicks on TV laughed. It was all pretty superficial, but at least people made an effort to pick themselves up at some point in their day. To look for something positive, happy, cheerful.
I'm afraid that today we're on a whole different track. Recession, swine flu, recalled meat... Look at the TV we watch (for those who still watch TV): it's SO depressing! People getting voted off or fired, or couples with way too many children spend an hour screaming at them, or animated shows putting forward idiots as heroes (ok, maybe that one isn't so new!). News stations only talk about bad things. Here's a thought: both Canada and the U.S. have had elections in the past year, which means that a large portion of these populations CHOSE their leader (which we forget is a privilege compared to other parts of the world). And all we talk about is how they are failing! (Don't get me wrong, I don't always agree with everything that the leader of my country does, but I do respect the democratic process and have decided that if I want things done differently I have to get involved.)
But my point goes further than this. We assume things will go wrong: we don't trust that people will meet us at an appointed time and place, so we text them when we get there in case; we ignore most of the emails we receive because we assume that they are spam; we don't answer the phone, it must be a telemarketer; we let our love ones know we care by updating our Twitter or Facebook or by sending canned email messages that threaten their happiness if they don't forward them to 15 other people in the next 2.5 minutes. It's all very sad.
However, I've decided to change this. I'm going to make sure that I do at least one happy thing every day. I'm going to look at pictures of puppies on the Internet, or I'm going to talk to someone and smile at them (yes, in person!), or I'm going to dance in the middle of my living room to great music (sorry, it'll probably be from the 80s). And I want you to commit to doing the same thing. After all, one happy thing a day isn't so hard, is it? Think of what might happen if everyone did this -- we might create a new era of happiness...a real one this time!
