The Smileys are on the inside!!! Just like a Smiley state of mind comes from within!!
So much has been given to me; I have no time to ponder over that which has been denied. – Helen Keller.
I too have no time to ponder over that which has been denied, lost, stolen, broken, screwed up, used up, turned down, overlooked, accidentally forgotten, under appreciated, laughed at or was just a colossal fail/mistake on your part. Life is too full of wonderful things and happy moments to focus on the crappy stuff.
That’s not to say that these experiences should be ignored. The blunders in life are merely data for the next attempt. Pay attention. Modify. Adjust. Don’t quit.
And yeah, we all have crappy stuff. It’s just best not to define our days by the small inconveniences or even by the big bummers. And while we’re at it how about not defining so many things as crappy. Small inconveniences are just that, small. Keep them that way by not giving them a second thought.
When you focus on the good and the cool and the happy, you feel so much happier and more content, more Smiley!
I dropped someone off at B.AR.T. today and just as she climbed out of the car her train arrived meaning there was no way she could pay and get to the platform before the train pulled away without her. Oh well, next train comes in 15 minutes, it’s a beautiful sunny day and she has a book with her. No big deal, actually kind of like, “Score!” Well, at least that’s what went through my mind. And no, I’m not going to repeat what went through her lips.
When I witness unnecessary agitation over small annoyances of no consequence, I think to myself, “Deep cleansing breath.” I’d like to say those words to the person who is suffering (self imposed but still suffering), but in that moment of agitation you know they don’t want to hear from a Little Miss Sunshine. I wish they did. I wish they could.
So smile. Be happy! Say “oh well.” and move on.
Ruth
B.T.W. that’s a B.A.R.T. Track Smiley at the top of the post.
There’s something really fun about being in the presence of some one who is bubbling over with exuberance. It’s fun to watch them in action. It exciting to see what they pull off.
There is such gumption and panache in the actions of exuberant people. They move forward at a dizzying rate. Hurdles are crossed, roadblocks ignored and all kinds of cool successes achieved. Small failures along the way simply roll off of their backs. And exuberance is available to everyone. Exuberance isn’t a personality trait that you either are born with or not. It’s an attitude you can choose to employ.
Attitude defines how we attack our lives. Doing it with exuberance is kind of like daring the obstacles to try to get in the way. Go on, I double dog dare you!
Smile. Be happy!
Ruth
Clarinet Smiley
Featured each week on www.FriendlySuggestions.com.
Here’s this week’s post: http://www.friendlysuggestions.com/?p=9117
Smiley Lady Ruth’s TEDTalk: http://vimeo.com/26190208 Please feel free to post the TED Talk everywhere you think appropriate. Help spread Spontaneous Smiley!!
Her soon to be released children’s BOOK: http://www.amazon.com/Smiley-Book-Colors-Ruth-Kaiser/dp/0375869832/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311359605&sr=8-1
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https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ruth-SpontaneousSmiley-Kaiser/132167586820062?ref=ts
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Fountain Smiley
If a blade of grass springing up from a field has the power to move you, if the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if the simplest things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive. – Eleanora Duse
If the simplest things . . .
Spontaneous Smiley is about deciding to notice the simplest things and then letting those things fill you with pleasure and gratitude. Allowing pleasure to flood through you, increases your level of happiness.
Pleasure is not synonymous with happiness. Pleasure is dependent on the thing or the circumstance that is pleasing to you. They go away and the pleasure can slip away, too.
However, one certainly experience more happiness when they allow themselves to be open to pleasure, when they give themselves permission to wallow in the pleasure. Enjoying pleasures increases your feelings of well being, serenity, fulfillment, etc. In a nutshell, enjoying pleasures pumps up your sense that you are a happy person. And, the happiness does not go away when the pleasant stimulus is gone.
Recognize the things with the potential to give you happiness and then let them.
Smile. Be happy.
Ruth
Sky Smiley
It is better to give than to receive. That doesn’t mean that receiving isn’t mighty nice, too. Mighty, mighty nice.
Over the last 10 days I have received a flood of good wishes and kind messages because of the posting of my TED Talk (http://vimeo.com/26190208) and the listing on Amazon of my upcoming Children’s book: a Smiley Book of Colors (http://www.amazon.com/Smiley-Book-Colors-Ruth-Kaiser/dp/0375869832/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311001161&sr=8-1).
Thanks to everyone. I have read every message. I have loved them all. Your kind words have delighted and inspired me.
Smile. Be happy.
Ruth
What is the opposite of play? Is it work? I don’t think so. I’d argue that the definition for play and the definition for work are the same. Does the following work for both: To be engaged in physical or mental activities in order to achieve a purpose. That sounds like WORK to me. But, hey wait a minute. That sounds like PLAY to me.
As a teacher I am sure that children at play are children at work. Just because they derive fun/positive feelings from the play in no way detracts from its being work. Adults engaged in work also experience fun/positive feelings from a job well done; their work is play. Work and play have so many commonalities. It would be healthy if society saw play as important work. It would be healthy if society saw work as an important form of play.
So if play and work share a definition, what then is the opposite of play? I searched through tons of online dictionaries and thesauruses (or would that be thesauri?) as well as my old tattered dictionary & thesaurus my dear old dad gave me when I left home for college (Henry, I really miss you. It’s been 19 years and I still feel just as strongly as I did back in 1992 that it was bad, bad, bad that you went and died. Oh, how you would have enjoyed your grandchildren. They’ve turned out really great. Sorry you didn’t get to see them grow up!).
I looked at both the verb play and the noun play. Here are a bunch of the words used to describe play/playfulness (please take them as I type them, it’s too much work to try to get tenses and such correct): entertainment, relaxation, recreation, diversion, distraction, leisure, enjoyment, happy, joyful, pleasure, fun, revelry, enjoy, fun, frolic, mess around, goof off, caper, cheerful, lighthearted, buoyant, jovial, jocular, without a care.
I’ve only included a small sample of all the words associated with play. As I re-read these words, a growing certainty arises: the opposite of play is not work, it is sadness, sorrow, depression, adversity, agonize, angst.
I hope you choose to rejoice/play. I know it seems easy and trite to say it is a choice, but actually it is! Life, even as full of troubles and challenges as it is for all of us, is really full of wonder. Life if full of offers to play. Sadly we often forget to make the choice to play when it is clear that play can bring us the joy.
Smile. Be happy and remember to play!
Ruth
Strawberry Smiley
One of about a dozen Strawberry Smileys.
Slicing strawberries for the Spontaneous Smiley Project,
does that make them a business expense?
Ever been laughed out of a bad mood? Had the blues disappear by way of music? Go from listless to perky because of a friend’s phone call?
Just goes to show how transient moods are and how easily we can take actions to help a sad mood, to move along. I think it’s easiest to understand this when times are happy and trials are few. It’s definitely harder to believe when you’ve already sunk in the funk. When it feels that the good-ship hasn’t merely sailed, it’s sunk.
I know that thinking it will work is a big part of it. Even when scoffing to yourself for thinking anything is going to bring back a vibrant, jazzed, bubbly mood, force yourself to apply the antidote.
It could be watching silly kitty videos on YouTube. It could be cranking up the music and dancing and singing at the top of your lungs. It could be phoning a friend and NOT moaning about your troubles—just friendly chatting is what’s needed.
It could be all 3 and a dozen more. Make a mental list. Keep it handy and employ it as soon as you recognize the blues are slipping in. I’m not saying to never be sad or blue. Those lows are definitely a part of life and make the highs that much sweeter. I’m simply advocating recognizing the mood shift and being aware that when you are ready to, you can take action to feel better.
Smile. Be happy. Sing and dance.
Ruth
Banjo Case Smiley
Begin doing what you want to do now.
We are not living in eternity.
We have only this moment,
sparkling like a star –
and melting like a snowflake.
~ Marie Beyonn Ray
Do you have an idea, a really cool idea? Something you plan to get around to? I’d say go for it. Now. Who knows what will become of the effort. But the effort itself, the process of the doing, is enough if it gives you pleasure.
Do I put a lot of time into it pitching the Smiley idea and do the pitches sometimes net nothing? You bet. I made a line of Smiley greeting cards. Took a ton of time and though I sent it out to every greeting card whose address/edress I could find, only one nibble. You can bet I’m holding onto hope that the nibble will become a bite!
If not, were those hours wasted? Not even a little. I had fun in the doing. And someday Spontaneous Smiley may draw the attention of someone in the Greeting Card field and I’ll be ready.
I celebrate the good luck of being able to immerse myself in the process. Like a child given free rein and a mountain of art supplies. They will cut and paste, then fold it over, staple it, cut it into pieces, put it in an envelope, attached some foil and a pipe cleaner, paint on it, then use a little glitter and a lot of tape and be 100% involved and joyful. The end product is often of little relevance to the child. As a teacher, time and again, I witness kids having no interest in the finished product, being very ho hum about even bothering to bring it home. For them it was all about the process.
So pursue you dream project, your cool idea. Can’t guarantee anything will pan out. Can guarantee the effort will be worth it because having pleasure is a valid goal!!!
Smile. Be happy.
Ruth