Celebrating the good, always

Tonight we were honored to be invited to celebrate a friend's 70th birthday. Due to family health issues in her parents' generation, she never expected such longevity. Accordingly, she saw fit to throw a full on shindig to celebrate making it to 70.

She took a few minutes tonight to share some thoughts and we also had a chance to speak directly. Her core point is that in this complicated, turmoil filled world, where danger and conflict lurk ever present, we have to, we must, we are obligated to celebrate and mark any and all opportunities we have that are happy and joyous.

You could see in her face, as is true whenever you see her, that she is filled with joy and happiness and it is self-inflicted. By seeking out the happy, finding the moments to celebrate at the drop of a hat, and always knowing there is good out there, we can and must fill ourselves with happiness. It is far too easy to be filled with dread, sadness, and depression. It is not easy to work to the happy - it takes more muscles to smile than to frown. But the overall payoff is greater when we smile - science has proven that to us. We are healthier when we smile; we are healthier when we are happy. And we can control both of those things.

:)

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