Be Happy And Give Us A Smile
"Be happy and give us a smile."
Yes, those words were almost enough to make you feel self-conscious. As if you were the only one who wasn't grinning. But the truth is, we all have days when it's difficult to find that spark of happiness. Some days are just not as fun; some days are harder than others. And sometimes these hard days come in threes — they pile up on one another until occasionally your entire day seems like a struggle.
On these days, it's difficult to see past the struggles. It's hard to imagine a place of calm or a time of light when you're struggling to keep up with your responsibilities, feeling as if you're just treading water — not gaining ground — and wondering how in the world you're going to handle everything.
But this is precisely why we need to focus on happiness. And remember that happiness is more than just that momentary high when life seems perfect. Happiness isn't solely about those times when everything goes your way and you can't help but smile wide because you're so happy about everything in your life; although those are good things and we should always look for more moments like that.
Instead, happiness is about looking past the struggles we're in and finding that place of calm — that place where you can see beyond the difficulties and appreciate your life. Happiness is a state of mind where you've found some kind of peace with what's happening in the moment. A place where "now" doesn't look like such a challenge because you've embraced the situation you're facing and it doesn't seem to matter much to you anymore.
This is probably why many people come up with different phrases to encourage themselves on these difficult days — a list of mantras they use to remind themselves that it will be all right, they will get through it somehow, or they'll find some kind of calm from somewhere.
These are all good things, and when life is difficult we may want to remind ourselves of these things. But remember, you're not waiting for some special moment to happen. This is your moment, right now — this moment that has you struggling a bit, sitting down to reflect on what's going on in your life (whatever it may be) and deciding you need a reminder that the struggles aren't as bad as they seem.
"Be happy and give us a smile." That's all we ask from you. All we ask from you is sometimes just show us that once in awhile you're able to look beyond the difficulties and find some way of breaking through them with a smile on your face.
And even if you aren't happy or smiling, that's okay. We all have those moments when we feel as if we can't find our way out of the situation and we just want to break down in tears. But those are the times where we need those reminders of hope, those reminders that someday this will pass and things will be better. Even if it's not today, tomorrow will be better than today with a little less struggle and a little more light.
So smile — show us that you're able to see beyond the struggle and find some peace with what's going on in your life at this moment. Then, when you're done remembering to be happy, smile and give us a smile.
Maybe we'll smile along with you this time. We know it's a difficult thing for everyone to do, but if everyone could just do that once in awhile — show us that we're not alone in our struggles — then surely everything would be better.
"Be happy and give us a smile."
–A Happy Soul
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One of the defining characteristics of human beings is our ability to teach and learn from each other. With technology growing more advanced every day, the ability for humans to communicate across land and sea is only expanding into the future.
Teaching, learning and sharing wisdom is a wonderful thing. It can help us all grow in so many ways, and it's one of the reasons we do this work. We want to make a difference in how we live, how we interact with one another, and how we think about our world.
And that's why this week — through the "The Wisdom of Their Words" series — we're shining light on learning more than just information; we're exploring learning as a way to grow as people. We hope these stories will take you outside your everyday life and bring you into other places where you can learn more than what you know. We hope they'll help you think about how you can learn more, whether that's in order to grow as a person, to gain insight into yourself or your surroundings, or even just to find something new to experience.
Today's story comes from the perspective of a famous artist. If you've ever watched their work in the context of film or found yourself immersed in the music they create, you might have some idea of what this artist is capable of — because we're talking about Emmy-award winning filmmaker Oscar-nominated actress and singer Jennifer Lawrence.
But if you don't know Jennifer Lawrence's work outside of her acting abilities, then it might be hard to picture her being someone who learned so much from others. Throughout her life, she's been surrounded by the advice and wisdom of many people — not only those who've helped direct and produce the films she's played in, but also those who've helped her learn and grow as a person.
It started when Jennifer was very young — no older than seven or eight years old — when she began collecting books. Her parents would take her to the library every week so that she could spend time reading books. But it wasn't just any library; it was one of the most beautiful libraries in New York City, situated in an area packed with great architecture and art that made knowing where to go fun.
As Jennifer writes in her book "The Silver Lining," "It was a place for kids to explore new languages, new ideas, and new worlds. It was pure fantasy to me."
In this library, she found herself immersed in the world of books. She read about other people's histories and their stories, learning about the experiences of others and how they were different from her own. It was just enough to open her eyes to great opportunities that she might never have tried on her own, while also keeping her focused on what she was doing with her own life.
As she writes in her book, "I learned to appreciate the small moments in life. I learned that it's not the big moments that matter but the small ones. … They say it's a poor carpenter who blames his tools, but if you give a girl a library card at age seven, she'll shut up."
It was within this library experience that she caught the attention of filmmakers and directors; many of them would send her books that they thought she'd enjoy reading — books about how to write and direct films.
Conclusion: It's not just the tools you have in your hand that matter when it comes to learning how to do something — it's also the tools those around you can provide. And they don't need to be expensive or complicated; they just need to be provided by someone who values what you're doing and wants you to learn more about it.
In this way, Jennifer found a way to get outside of her comfort zone and explore areas that many others might never find because they didn't grow up with someone who was willing to provide them with opportunities. With these books, she found a doorway into a world that she never knew existed, while also being able to stay focused on what she wanted out of life.