My kids’ favorite song right now:
Happiness is interesting, don’t you think? Most everyone wants to happy, attempting to get there many different ways. Money, love, hobbies…the list goes on.
NPR TED Radio Hour interviewed Pharrell Williams (above) as part of a show on finding happiness. He had some sage advice:
“Be appreciative.”
Pharrell may be more profound than he realizes. In the same radio show, they also spoke with a Benedictine monk named Brother David who said something very similar answering a classic chicken-egg question. “Gratefulness does not come from being happy. Happiness comes from being grateful.”
Gratefulness has had a large role in my journey this last year. I spent a lot of my time angry about where I was at the moment. It wasn’t until I could stop and sincerely appreciate the good things happening in my life that I began to see things differently. For a while, I wasn’t happy about working at Lowe’s, but I came around to be very grateful for the opportunity to work and receive a paycheck.
The stopping part is hard. Our lives are so busy and fast paced. A race everyday to become faster, leaner, more efficient, and productive. Brother David had something to add regarding this point. “We have to build stop signs into our lives.” It’s not enough to be grateful every once in a while, when the opportunity lands in our lap. We need make the opportunities happen. How often should you do this? Start with more than you are now. Try to stop and be silent a few times a week. Maybe even daily. Get quiet for a minute and be thankful for something. Then, see what happens.