In answer to the first one, I think I have seen both sides of that road and decided that I wanted to take the happy road. Most people who really know me know that I am not ALWAYS smiling and laughing, however, I enjoy that side of life the most. There are certainly times and places for many emotions. The biggest thing to me is defining what kind of life I want to live and the quality of life I live. This obviously will impact everyone I come in contact with. This is especially important for me in raising my kids. Life in general is fun. Everything in life is not fun, but overall you can make most situations in life fun and/or humorous. I TRY to be grateful more than I complain or want more. I cannot say that I always do those things, but I try to focus on them. There are definite steps that I take in finding happiness as I have outlined previously in this blog. When I was probably in fourth of fifth grade I did not have a lot of friends. I did not have a lot of self-esteem and I really probably was not doing anything great for anyone else. Surprise! I didn't feel all that great either. I decided from watching people while I was "a loaner" that the people who laughed usually enjoyed life. The people who were depressed, complaining, etc. did not. Later in life I still do not have many friends, but my perspective changed and I am so grateful for those that I have. I slowly decided throughout those Jr. High years (side note: did anyone just love Jr. High? because if you did I am just thinking a trip to the psychologist is in order) that I was going to make the most of life. I have tried since not to be defined by experiences that happened to me. To instead define who I am by how
I react to situations and what I can learn from what happens in my life. I am certainly not preaching and others have things way more figured out than I do. I am only saying that I CHOOSE (yes, I don't care what anyone says, it is a choice) to be happy. Basically I guess if I was a Disney character I would be Goofy. Not the smartest of the bunch, somewhat tall and dopey, not necessarily the most handsome, but I like to smile. I don't think I have that whole Dr. Jekyl/Mr. Hyde thing that he does in some of those episodes though. I will work on the little things in my life that I need to do differently, but overall I want to enjoy life, and so I have set out on that course. I just slip off the trail every once in a while and have to pull myself back up.The second question is somewhat answered in the answer to the first question. I love to have fun WITH people. I like to give people a hard time. I love to laugh and I love to make others laugh too. I love to laugh at myself. I am not perfect and I think that often times when I am not trying to be funny I am the most humorous of all. As I said I want people to laugh WITH me. I would never want to hurt anyone's feelings, or make them feel sad. I try to always stay away from the mean teasing that is out there. It would really make me feel badly if I found out I hurt someone's feelings. I don't ever want to be that person. Therefore, one of the ways I laugh with people is by laughing at myself. I know my frailties and it is fun to not only recognize and change them, but laugh about them. I know it seems completely crazy and probably does not make sense to anyone, but it is quite therapeutic for me and is all in fun. It is also a way of recognizing that I don't need to be perfect, only work towards perfection. I probably end up beating myself up less than I would normally in many situations because I just laugh. It helps me to forgive others more quickly and overlook mistakes. Really in the end, I think I am an okay guy (even if I only think that 2.7 minutes a week).
