...HAPPINESS!

" Hey, lady! You dropped your happiness & kindness ALL over the place. The potency of it stained my clothes. What caused this..this happiness? "



Happiness & kindness are two of the most potent & contagious emotional expressions a human has to offer. We all know kindness is potent..We hear & continue to say the phrase, "Kill 'em with kindness", which was coined by none other than Shakespeare.. well, his exact words were "Kill with kindness" but anyway, point here is..That quote is OLDER THAN DIRT & we still use it. So, whyyy do we still use it as advise to others? Because it works! If we're happy & kind to unfriendly people, what will they have to say bad about you or me?

" Ugg, there goes that Bella. See her over there being all happy and stuff. Yeah, & just the other day she was kind to me..I can't stand her! "

That scenario, prooobably very safe to say, it's NOT going to happen.
A woman I know could quite possibly be the happiest person on the face of the planet. I wish everyone knew this lady & hopefully you all know someone like her. She is high on LIFE! That's it. Nothing but life, water & vitamins flow through this woman's veins.
I try to be more like her every day.

She's the type of person who makes everyone feel special & spreads joy like I've never seen & at the same time sits the farthest away from disingenuous.
She not only believes but knows every one's special in their own way. I fear I don't give her or her happiness enough justice. I'm sure a few of you may know who I'm speaking of. This is a highly positive person who sees good in ALL!

She will look into your eyes & tell you she's so happy for you & proud of you for you're accomplishments..& if you have something in the works, she still says the same thing. Such a promoter of people..
She says, "Conquering nothingness & starting a task you're interested in, is reason enough for me to be proud of you."
I meeean, this lady is real to the bone, people. She amazes me every time I have the chance to meet with her. I ran into her & this all took place on Tuesday in a Pigeon Forge shoppe..

As I finished telling her many of the things I was juggling & attempting to accomplish in my life, she replied with..
"REEALLY! I'm such a fan of hard work. Are these things you've wanted to do? I'm so proud of you already!"

As I explained to her how much these [things] really meant to me, her excitement grew. I'm not going to lie, I LOVED every second of it & she made me feel..hmm, dare I say it..special. I went from being totally stressed out..to knowing everything would work it's self out & be OK.

Because of her excitement & enthusiasm, people started to stare, wondering what the commotion & happiness was all about. My eyes traveled from one corner of the small Pigeon Forge shoppe to the other..It was written on their faces...confusion, major confusion..then their curiosity turned into a contagious fever, and the symptoms...happiness.
All of the sudden ..everyone in the shoppe joined our conversation. Not physically walking up to us, forming a circle & joining hands or anything like that. A few people did walk over but mainly, everyone started conversing from where they were standing..it spread like wildfire..
A little girl began to giggle because her mother & I were talking & laughing from one corner of the shoppe & I at the other corner. The precious little girl, about 4 years of age, made an older couple behind her start to laugh..What started as a 2 person convo turned into an 11 person convo..YES, I counted. I was shocked. I looked around & saw these people, once strangers now talking among themselves 'getting to know each other' shall was say. It was so strange-but awesome!
I looked at my friend & knew this camaraderie was all her doing..bringing people together who may have never met otherwise. All sharing a moment of happiness with one another..some tourists & some locals. Because of this woman I know, that day, the positivity of our community grew - not only b/w local & local but b/w local & tourist, as well. Our tourists will have a great time visiting our attractions, no doubt..but for them to go back 'home' & say how much they enjoyed the locals is a great accomplishment. (I mean, I've seen a few dealings between local & tourist in my day..& well, hasn't always been pretty. I was so proud of our happy community)

As my friend & I walked out & said our good byes to each other,
I looked her in the eyes & said, "I'm so proud of you & how you use your spare time. You don't waste a minute of it do you?"
I noticed immediately that not many people tell her they're proud of her....strange..
But with a huge smile from ear to ear she knew exactly what I meant...

We can, today, strive to be like this lady..Happy!
Even though she's out & about on her personal time, doing a little shopping, she's still 'working'..working & striving to spread happiness among all she meets..
And I'm not saying, "get out there & touch every stranger you meet"..& I know this post may make me sound a little hippy-ish..but what I am saying is, from the
back-woods-never-seen-a-colored-tv guy to the loud obnoxious northerner..accept those who have been dubbed unacceptable...because if we don't, it's just society getting in the way of our kindness & happiness.

*B.Rosalie