Today is a big day. It’s the total solar eclipse. And our area of the country is the hotbed of activity for it. Whatever your thoughts and feelings are about space, science, whether this is the end of days…just stop the chatter and get your special glasses and go witness one of God’s beautiful phenomenons. Stop and take a moment to appreciate something bigger than you. And this is where I lead into my next post. It involves choosing. Because one of our gifts from above is the power of Choice.

Again, I woke up this morning just letting my brain ramble on with different ideas, and this one idea kept repeating itself: I Choose Happy. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I knew it was going to become a post. For those of you who know me personally, you know my biggest thing I am apparently known for is the absolute loudest, probably most obnoxious laugh for someone who is 5′ 2″ tall. But I can’t change it, and it was one of the things my late father loved the most about me. So in 40 something years, I have learned to embrace it wholeheartedly.

It brings me to the idea rambling in my brain this morning of choosing happy. I am not even sure the birds were chirping. I kept rolling it over and over in my mind. It made me truly contemplate about the choice I make each day to choose Happy. In the world we live in, it’s so easy to go negative. To see the bad in things. To turn on the T.V. and hear how awful the world is, and the people who inhabit it. It’s a choice. It’s a mindset. And it’s power.

The human brain is a huge, mushy mess of muscle and nerves that needs to be “trained” on a daily basis. It needs stimulation, guidance, and it needs us as much as we need it to survive and be functional. So why not train for something more positive? Why not try and see the best in the world, and not focus so much on why things are terrible. I can easily wake up each morning and think, “yuck, it looks cold. The clouds are coming in so I bet it rains.” But what if I “choose” to see the clouds as a sign for rain that we probably need, or a calm serenity in nature that means today will be chill. I might even get to read a book because it’s raining outside. I choose the Happy.

I also understand there are two sides to this notion of happiness. And our circumstances can easily suck it out of us in an instant. Sometimes it’s hard to be happy. Emotions, hormones, life in general, can all take away our happiness too quickly. So we have to fight for that feeling of goodness and find a way to smile. It’s literally the one thing which can change a mood, stop a fight, plow over feelings of despair. The choices we make in life can also make or break our happiness. Shouldn’t we try and train our brains to make decisions which can change the course of our lives? Think about it this way, we have a TON of muscles in our face. As we age, those muscles definitely make their presence more known. My mom always said she would rather have wrinkles from laughing than frowning. And I can’t agree more with that amazing statement. So I do, I choose laughter, I choose the Happy so one day my kids will see my wrinkles from laughing instead of frowning.

Laughter can change a mood in the room. It can change the way a crowd feels in a split second. We have all been in situations where sadness is everywhere and it feels heavy, like a soaked horse blanket. Then suddenly someone remembers something happy and good that takes away the negative emotions of the moment and brings in a small ray of light and laughter. It’s like a breath of fresh spring air filling your lungs with hope and promise. It’s the Happy we all so desperately need.

I love quotes and I always like to write my favorites down in my journals and on my laptop. So here is one of the quotes I have recently stumbled upon that may be my new mantra in life:

” A day without laughter is a day wasted.” –Charlie Chaplin

Choose the Happy. Go enjoy the eclipse with the rest of the world. And remember to find something today to make you smile.

Until next time,

Cheers