Last week my younger brother got up in front of 200 or so people and made a speech at his newborn sons Bris. He talked about a bunch of things I won’t bore you with. The thing that knocked me on the forehead and said “Hello!” is what I’ve sat down to share with you today.
My brother is actually my half brother. My mom married my stepdad when I was 5 years old and together they had 3 kids. 2 younger brothers with a sister sandwiched in the middle. This was the older younger brother. The younger younger brother’s baby boys Bris was on sunday. 😀
My stepfather died when I was 14. His kids were 2, 5 and 7. Both of my new nephews were named for their grandfather, my stepfather. Baby boys receive their names at their bris and hearing them call their sons by their father’s name was really beautiful.
In my brother’s speech he spoke about a magnet my mom, who’d been widowed at 35 with us 5 kids, has had on the refrigerator for just about as long as I can remember.
It reads:
“Most people are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
This is a sentiment which, when life is in the middle of shitting on you, can make you wanna take a magnet and hurl it out a window.
But somehow, after years of reading that line over and over and over again, every time we reached for a soda or an apple or a roasted chicken leg, it seems to now truly define a large part of what believe about ourselves as adults.
The Muchness was born from my decision to make up my mind to be happier. All the self-help gurus and happiness coaches in the world always basically come back to this core belief.
“Most people are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
Sure, they each provide different tools to get you there: affirmations, meditation, gratitude, kindness towards others, goal setting etc. etc. etc. My tool? Sparkle. To each his own. And yes, it’s possible that other stuff kinda works too….
But ultimately, it boils down to this: It’s not about waiting to be happy, it’s about making up your mind to be.
Thank You mom for the lesson. I want to teach it to my kids, every time they reach into the fridge for a chocolate pudding, because I see now how well it’s served us. So I made a muchy magnet and because I love to share what makes me feel muchy. you can get one too.
How Muchtastic is that?
This is such great advice. And it is so true! Thank you for providing me fresh perspective and reminders to be as happy as I want to be!