Lighter of Candles

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Seriously...I've heard it said that a good belly laugh a day can improve one's health by as much as fifteen percent.  Friend, when's the last time you had one--belly laugh, that is?  There is so little to smile about, much less laugh about, these days.  With hard-earned money in hand,  we can stand in line with purchases at a check-out counter in a store, waiting patiently for some sour-faced clerk to tally up the amount we owe.  Then when we finally stand in front of her cash register, she might bite our heads off or give us a what-hole-did-you-crawl-out-of sneer.  Why, didn't we know she does us a favor by taking our money? 

We can ruin an entire day by going to the grocery store in the mornings.  But, if that doesn't do it, we can turn on the TV after we get back home.  And, that pretty, smiling news reporter on CNN presenting the latest on Iraq, illegal immigrants, tornadoes, hurricanes, President Obama, one of the former President Bushes, Hillary, or Bill--will!.

Hey, whoa, ho!  Wait a minute.  Let's not start on that mean headache or the kids' "messy" rooms.  Let's look at it all differently. Attitude makes the difference. Why punish others with our aches and pains?  They have enough of their own.

That store clerk who rang up our purchases is the caretaker of an elderly mom at home with alzheimers. Or, she  has had an irate customer earlier to blame her for a mistaken lower price being placed on a bottle of ketchup, or something such. She has problems, too.  So, why don't we make her day a little better (and our own) with smiles or compliments?  And...that pretty reporter?  She was hired to report bad news--the kind her American viewers want.  She would have only a few people with enough interest in her program to even bother clicking the remote control and watching her on TV, if she presented only pleasant news.  So, maybe we should select other channels; or better yet, read a good book or take a brisk walk around the neighborhood.  In America, we have freedom.  We make our own choices.  We can either choose happiness or we can choose unhappiness.  It's really up to us.