Perpetual Ruminations

Happy - Pharrell Williams

This entry is written for, 48-HOUR CHALLENGE: Media Prompt on December 05, 2020

I listened to the video Happy, by Pharrell William and found the music very uplifting and enjoyable, in fact, the entire video is great.

I also put some thought into the message and found it very fitting, especially for this time of year. Sure, we all have our reasons to be happy and we all have reasons to be unhappy. For some, it goes much beyond choice, but for the rest of us, it's a decision to be happy or sad. This song is about picking happy.

I've seen a lot of items starting loss and hardships for the reasons for not enjoying the Christmas season. My wife and I both have a lot of reasons to be blue and sad over the holidays, if we wanted, but like the song, we choose to be happy. It's not just the holidays, however, it's every month, every week, every day, do you want to be sad and miserable or do you want to be happy?

Yes, I know from my years of living, there are more than enough reasons to give in and be miserable and depressed. Sometimes, it's difficult to find a reason to be happy at all. There are times when I give in to the misery, pain, and injustice around me, things happen and there goes my happiness right out the window. But all I have to do is take a break and look at the reality around me, there are just as many, no, there are more reasons to stop and be happy.

An example? Sure, why not. Yesterday was a very trying day, busy, heavy traffic, and to top it off, some obnoxious and rude people. I'm currently suffering from some back pain. I injured it years ago, and from time to time it decides to give me some trouble. Sometimes, like now, it's enough to make me not want to even move. But, that's not always an option, like yesterday.

After I finally got home, the girls decided to make things more difficult and dished up a big portion of teenage attitude. I began that all to easy trip down the rabbit hole of anger and resentment, but I stopped from going that direction. Instead I did my best to set all the misery and discomfort, as well as my personal feelings towards this unwanted attitude, aside. Soon, dinner was ready and I started setting the table. They soon joined in and by the time the food was dished, we were all having a nice dinner.

After dinner, my wife began setting up the Christmas tree, our old one was getting pretty bald so we purchased a new one two days ago to surprise the girls. The youngest one was right there to help set it up and soon it was time to put on the decorations. The older girl had tried to hold the bad attitude but soon was also involved in decorating and singing along with Alexa's pick of Christmas songs. Once done, the tree was plugged in and the lights began to dance.

All that was left was the tree topper, the one part I do every year. In pain and with some difficulty, I climbed up on the stool and tried to slip the 17 year old glass ornament over the top of the tree, but it didn't fit! We put a different topper on, but I could see the disappointed look, so I put aside my discomfort and got out some tools. With a bit of snipping and clipping, I was soon able to slide the topper down and stood beside the rest of the family and looked at the tree.

There was no longer any attitude, just two girls looking with that magical look at a Christmas tree, smiles on their faces, and the lights reflecting in their eyes. Life is full of these precious times and we can focus on them or we can focus on the pain, the suffering, the misery and the loss in life. You make your choice, but for me, I'll remember these special times and pick to be happy.