People’s reactions when they encounter happy-go-lucky individuals is often that of suspicion.
Considering such persons to be pretentious,dubious and ready to scam one with the “all is well” demeanour.
Truth is, maintaining a positive outlook at all times is very tedious and requires tenacity. As human beings we are not always presented with situations that elicit euphoria “ad infinitum”. However, responding to such issues with enthusiasm is a choice we can be deliberate about.
Perhaps, that is the distinction between happy people and mercurial individuals – the choice to be resolute about happiness. The definition of happiness may not be common place, but it definitely stems from a feeling of gratitude for life above all else.
Gratitude for life is superior to every other kind of gratitude. It is sort of the “fons et origio” of any and every other kind of gratitude. Being excited about where you find yourself, whether it matches your expectation or not, is usually a good start.
Another reason why happy people are not taken seriously is that they are deemed not realistic enough. I mean, what is there to be happy about considering the facts around the globe- hunger, poverty, climate change, corona virus? despondency seems more likely but, what often slips through our consciousness is that reality is alterable. What we consider realistic today was once impossible at one time. Possibly, choosing to focus on more positive occurrence gives one the courage to face more odious events.
Positive bias is a culture, as utopian as it may sound. So, let’s say you are realistic enough to state facts and narrate the downside, without corresponding ability to improve the situation; what do you do? Embrace sadness indefinitely till you near the end?
Grateful people don’t always have easier lives; but, they sure do make live easier for themselves. I mean, the world is already full of dreadful narratives, why not spin the tale a little with a dab of felicity. Gratitude is a mental attitude that becomes a lifestyle. If being realistic doesn’t change anything, what does it cost you to be idealistic?
I know I sound like the people I am talking about – naive folks who don’t want to wake up and smell the coffee, but, being positive has helped improve my perception a lot. It has shaped my idea of difficult and impossible, reconstructed my idea of misfortune and dooms day prophecy. For instance, we are in the middle of a global pandemic and my attitude is: it could be a lot worse.
Being grateful doesn’t mean you cannot acknowledge sad events and that you always have to be ecstatic, it simply means that you realize your choice to make a difficult situation more bearable and a happy one, happier still by counting your blessings.
It means you add a colorful drama to every onerous phenomenon that may want to rain on your parade. It means recreating your reality by taking control of the things you still have control over. It is recognizing that you will always have a choice.
Not all stories have happy endings but what do you have to loose if you conjure one?
Connoisseur of Memories 