Why Are You So Happy All The Time?

I often get asked the question, "Why are you so happy all of the time?" Interesting. First, I am not happy all of the time. Second, is it a bad thing to be happy all of the time? Lets investigate this a little further.

I am not always happy. Iowa State beating Iowa in football this year was a time in which I was not very happy. My kids not listening to me and their mother does not make me very happy. Depending on others and having them disappoint me does not make me happy. So, no, I am not happy all of the time. I am happy most of the time, but not all of the time.

Is it a bad thing to be happy all of the time. They say misery loves company, but why doesn't happiness love company. Has our world turned into such a place in which when others succeed, we cannot feel happy for them? Are we that competitive that the success of others makes us hold a grudge against them. After all, if they are succeeding, then they are obviously working for it. Can we not celebrate their excellent efforts or do we have to minimize each others' accomplishments?

I make an effort to maintain a positive attitude everyday. I have found that at my work place, where I am viewed as a leader, that if I am positive and happy, my co-workers reciprocate these emotions. happiness equals better production. If I am in a bad mood, the tension in my work place is high and very negative; therefore slowing down the days production. So why do I seem so happy all the time? Production.

Truth be told, I am very happy. I have a great wife that I have been married to for 10 years. I have 2 great kids, Dylanne who is 8 and Micheala who is 6. I live in a great neighborhood and our kids go to a great school. We have great neighbors and so on. I don't really care for our family dog.....but that's another story.

Why would I spend my time being miserable? It goes back to what I touched on in yesterdays blog, if there's something in this world that i don't like, it's up to me to change it. Right now I wouldn't change anything. Sure I would love to more financially free, but that doesn't matter much compared to other things in my life. I feel I have a strong purpose with The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. I feel like I try and help people when I can. I feel like the people who know me; like me. I feel like my faith is strong. I feel loved by my family.

In my lifetime, I have found that people are not happy because they are missing one of the above.

So my challenge to those of you that are not happy most of the time is to figure out what it is that you are missing from your lives. Identify the leaks in your heart and then identify what it is that will serve as the putty to stop those leaks. What do you like to do and why don't you do it more often? Who is it that you love and have you told them that lately? When is the last time you volunteered to help a friend or neighbor? What was the last compliment that you gave to someone? When is the last time that you prayed?

I would like to teach the world to sing a perfect harmony (as the song says), but cannot accomplish such a feat unless I fix the harmony in my own heart.

Pick a Facebook friend and message them today. Tell them how much you appreciate them and their friendship. Then savor the feeling you have for doing such a good deed. Then repeat this process.

Have a good weekend and GO HAWKS!