Happiness Is A Choice

I was driving in my car today when the popular Pharrell Williams song "Happy" popped on the radio. I couldn't help smiling as I listened to the lyrics of this simple tune.

Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do

 
And the thought popped into my head: happiness is a choice. It's like seeing a glass half full or half empty. You might say, well my life is miserable, where can I find the joy in that? But you can.  I remember shooting a video for the charitable organization CARE, International. We flew to Nicaragua and the first location was in a garbage dump.  People were actually living in a garbage dump. They made their homes in primitive shacks, and the adults spent their days looking for salvageable items they could sell. One would think these people would be miserable, they certainly had every right to be, but they were all joyful. Their young ones laughing and playing in the piles of garbage. Sweet and loving, and grateful we were there to help with their plight.

There's a very humorous article "The 14 Habits of Highly Miserable People", which categorizes the ways we self-sabotage, and contribute to a miserable life.  I know people like that.  I choose not to be.

Find the joys in life.
Explore the little things that make you smile.
Count your blessings and be grateful for what you do have.
Watch a funny movie, or anything that makes you laugh.
Listen to uplifting music.
Read a spiritual book.
Surround yourself with happy people.
Refuse to let things get you down.
If a negative thought pops into your head, replace it with something positive.
Help someone who is less fortunate than you.
Dance to some happy music.
Smile. Laugh. Love.

It is a choice.

Pharrell recorded a 24 hour music video of people dancing to "Happy". Check it out, it's fun.

Take The Time To Love- Thai Insurance Video

I found this very touching video on Facebook. If you can get over the fact that it's actually for a Thai life insurance company, it has a very important message.

Take the time: to love more. To take care of our own, to tell them we love them more often, because we never know when our time is up.

This is a one box Kleenex video.




The Facebook page had this quote along with the video:

“When you grow up you can do whatever you want to do, when you do something, make sure you do it well... Never give up; it is stunning how far you can get if you don’t give up.. Never forget how much I love you." ~ Robin Sharma’s words to his kids each night

Source: Success Nation

Ah Love! Isaac Lamb's Viral Live Lip-Dub Proposal

Sometimes I come across something that is too good to not share, especially when it deals with love.

Isaac Lamb, a Portland, Oregon actor, staged one of the most touching marriage proposals I have ever seen:  he decided to surprise his girlfriend- choreographer Amy Frankel - by enlisting 60 family and friends to a live lip-dub proposal. Choreographed to the song Bruno Mars' "Marry Me", he had his brother set her up in the back of a Honda CRV and the show began. All you romantics out there will need a Kleenex.

There have been some comments on Youtube, and elsewhere, claiming it's a Honda commercial, but no, this is absolutely for real. Lamb had no clue it would go viral, but it now has well over 1 million views. 

It's just very sweet, and there is nothing better than a good dose of love!

Enjoy.

Keys To Happiness: Mayo Clinic Atrium Impromptu Piano Concert By Senior Couple Video

I love videos that make me smile, and seeing older playful couples who seem as much in love as they probably were when they first fell in love, makes my heart full.

This mid 80s to 90 plus year-old couple, married for 62 years, were in the atrium of the Mayo Clinic, in 2008, and apparently just started an impromptu piano recital.  Jodi Hume, who was there with her mother, heard the music and the laughter and approached the couple asking them if they would play one more tune.  They obliged, and she captured this wonderful video of Fran and Marlow Cowan. It eventually went viral after Jodi included the video when she posted on sharing.mayoclinic.org.

Watch how much fun they have with each other, and tell me it doesn't put a smile on your face.  Their love and playfulness is probably what has kept them together for so long.

Fran and Marlow were still healthy in 2011 when they were featured on an Iowa PBS show called Need To Know, in a segment called "Healthily Ever After", about the benefits of a happy marriage.

Enjoy!