*Attitude: Finding My Happy*

‘’Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.’’ I’m going to risk stepping on a few toes by disagreeing with the great Winston Churchill. Attitude is not a little thing; it’s gigantic. It’s the difference between a sunburn, an over-zealously ‘’healthy’’ glow, and a slightly painful lesson. It’s the difference between a boring night stuck at home and a night at home spent catching up on journal entries while munching popcorn. It’s the difference between me last week and me today. It will give my father no end of pleasure to read that statement. I hate admitting it, but his lecture two days ago brought me down to Earth. I wasn’t happy at the time, and at first his little speech made things worse. When he was done, I hung up the phone and cried. I cried for at least a good five minutes. I felt awful, but I washed my face, blew my nose, and got ready for a birthday party I was going to. I pasted on that smile I’ve gotten pretty good at using in times of distress and went to the party, where I gradually cheered up. That was Thursday. Let’s now look at Friday.
I was going to a pool party, and was to meet everyone involved at eight a.m. Despite the previous late night, I dragged myself out of bed, packed a suit and towel, and made it to our meeting spot by 8:05. No one was there, so I walked around the block, enjoying the sunshine. Ten minutes later people began to arrive, but a few quick phone calls verified that not everyone even remembered the activity, so our little group of five set off to drag four more people out of their houses. We walked a great deal, and then crammed onto a sweaty, dirty micro to get to the pool place. None of this bothered me however. My attitude had done a one-eighty since the day before. I played soccer with those kids. I hate soccer, normally, but here I was banging my shins and stubbing my toes in an attempt to get the half-flat ball to our goal. I enjoyed it. Ella Wheeler Wilcox was entirely correct in her statement, ‘’Say you are well, or all is well with you, And God shall hear your words and make them true.’’ My cheerfulness may have started with a fake smile, but somehow in the course of Thursday afternoon it grew into the genuine thing, giving me a beautiful Friday. My host mother said I was ‘’flying’’ in reference to my sunburn and forgotten tennis shoes, but really, my spirit was soaring alongside my head in the clouds.
This is not to say a sunny attitude will automatically evaporate the clouds and plant daisies at your feet. Unfair rules will most likely remain unfair. The underdog might not win. Yesterday’s sunburn will still chafe under any clothes you force upon it. You can really only ask so much of a person. After a point, being human, we snap back. We’re not saints, and our lives aren’t always beautiful, but I’ve learned that we can make things better by how we think, no matter how difficult and painful it might be. It’s like Annette Goodheart said:
’’Just because you're miserable doesn't mean you can't enjoy your life.’’ Life may still be awful, but you can still find humor and the occasional moment of fun in it.
I’m happy today. I’ve been happy all day today. I was happy putting aloe on my poor red back and shoulders. I was happy talking to my family. I was happy going to the store, and happy watching Friends and happy writing this blog. It’s cliché, I know, but I decided to be better on Thursday. I decided that I was going to try harder to be happy, and if I still wasn’t I’d blame my father. Instead, I became happy, and now have to thank him for his awful therapeutic speech that left me with the desire to change. I’ve found my happy. Go find yours. If that’s out of the question, consider changing your attitude, even just to spite me. Maybe you’ll find your happy.