October 1st, 2020
Taylor Malone
Feeling Comfortable for the Long Term
Listen, I know life is hard, but it’s the hard times that make us stronger. There are so many negative things going on. It’s so easy to be unhappy and negative. Going out of your way to to look at how negative media is everyday is, well, negative. My theology class has been studying happiness. We have a “happiness journal” we have been writing in since our crazy school year started. It’s really helped me get out all my thoughts. It can get pretty crammed. We have done a lot of fun things in that class that I will be grateful for. My faith has also really grown. During quarantine, my mom and I went to the mall. It was a normal July afternoon, but I had a feeling something was going to happen. We looked around for a little bit before I noticed a sea of people running in a panic towards the door. It turned out two people had been shot on the other side of the mall. The victims had recovered just fine but mentally, I had not. I found myself being afraid of going out. Everything felt cold and empty. It felt like no one could help. I went to therapy a couple of weeks ago. I listened to what was being said to me, and those were life changing.
With our journal, we would watch inspirational videos, read articles, and find quotes. We didn’t just scratch the surface, we went all the way through. One of the particular activities we had to do was find three quotes from three famous people. One of mine was Albert Einstein. “If you want to live a happy life, tie to a goal. Not people or things.” This was such a good example of what we had been talking about. Happiness should not be based off of material things or people. Family is fine, but you should not be living for them. You should be able to find your own purpose. Life is so much when you have a goal. The way I look at it, the goal is supposed to distract us from the world. It’s such a sad reality that we have to distract ourselves to be happy, but it does work. Plus, when you finish your goal, you have another reason to be happy. Just recently, I made it my goal to play golf.
Another day, our teacher said that we had to pick out two songs that make us happy. One had to be a Christian song and the other could be any type of song that we liked. The Christian song that I chose was a song called the Happy song by delirious. Here are some of the lyrics: “oh, I could sing unending songs of how you saved my soul. Well I could dance a thousand miles because of your great love. My heart is bursting Lord to tell of all you’ve done. Of how you’ve changed my life and wiped away the past. I want to shout it out from every rooftop. For now, I know that God did for me, not against me.” This song really is a peek into how God can make you happy. The other song I chose was a song that my grandmother and I used to always listen to. It has always been a special song to me. It was called ‘The Rain, The Park, and Other Things” by the Cowsills. Here are some of the lyrics: ‘I saw her sitting in the rain. Raindrops falling on her. She didn’t seem to care, she sat there and smiled at me. Then I knew, she could make me happy.” It’s a very light hearted song that helped me through so much. Music influences your mood by so much.
The Bible is such an amazing thing to read. There are just so many life lessons and history. I think we can all agree it’s an amazing book. There are so many Bible verses about happiness. One of my favorites is “Love is patient, love is kind, love does not boast.” It is so important to be kind to others and to love others as well. Kindness and love go hand-in-hand and they should not be used to get ahead. There are so many ways that you could be a kind and loving neighbor to a stranger. For example, you could help them with their groceries or give them a complement. It feels so amazing to know that you arethe reason that somebody smiled. It’s like a rush of serotonin. You are putting their feelings in front of yours, and that is the kindest thing of all. My grandmother used to tell me an acronym for the word joy. It stands for Jesus, others, and yourself. You put everybody above yourself and that is the best thing you could do because you are humbling yourself.
The final thing that I will write about is how important it is to be okay and accepting that you are going to have bad days. You can’t be happy all of the time, it is merely impossible. And those bad moments in your life help you remember the good times. Bad days are the type of days that humble you after having a good week. You’re just so high and happy, but then that one tiny thing happens and you’re mood is all the way down the drain, but that is okay! You can look back on a funny joke or a happy memory and it keeps you going. That’s all that matters in life. Just keep moving forward. It is something that I cannot stress enough. You might be going through something awful, but try to remember the good times and things do get better. It might not be all sunshine and rainbows at the moment but it does get better, and God is always there if you want to talk. Prayer is a great and awesome way to get all of your feelings out.
Citations
• Delirious?, The Happy Song, Sparrow Records, 1994
• ‘Gloom to Grateful’, New York Times, 2017
• ‘Revolution in Happiness’, New York Times, 2016
• The Cowsills, the rain, the park, and other things, 1967
• Roko Belic, Happy, Ted Talk, 2018
• Albert Einstein, happiness quote, 1936
Taylor Malone
Feeling Comfortable for the Long Term
Listen, I know life is hard, but it’s the hard times that make us stronger. There are so many negative things going on. It’s so easy to be unhappy and negative. Going out of your way to to look at how negative media is everyday is, well, negative. My theology class has been studying happiness. We have a “happiness journal” we have been writing in since our crazy school year started. It’s really helped me get out all my thoughts. It can get pretty crammed. We have done a lot of fun things in that class that I will be grateful for. My faith has also really grown. During quarantine, my mom and I went to the mall. It was a normal July afternoon, but I had a feeling something was going to happen. We looked around for a little bit before I noticed a sea of people running in a panic towards the door. It turned out two people had been shot on the other side of the mall. The victims had recovered just fine but mentally, I had not. I found myself being afraid of going out. Everything felt cold and empty. It felt like no one could help. I went to therapy a couple of weeks ago. I listened to what was being said to me, and those were life changing.
With our journal, we would watch inspirational videos, read articles, and find quotes. We didn’t just scratch the surface, we went all the way through. One of the particular activities we had to do was find three quotes from three famous people. One of mine was Albert Einstein. “If you want to live a happy life, tie to a goal. Not people or things.” This was such a good example of what we had been talking about. Happiness should not be based off of material things or people. Family is fine, but you should not be living for them. You should be able to find your own purpose. Life is so much when you have a goal. The way I look at it, the goal is supposed to distract us from the world. It’s such a sad reality that we have to distract ourselves to be happy, but it does work. Plus, when you finish your goal, you have another reason to be happy. Just recently, I made it my goal to play golf.
Another day, our teacher said that we had to pick out two songs that make us happy. One had to be a Christian song and the other could be any type of song that we liked. The Christian song that I chose was a song called the Happy song by delirious. Here are some of the lyrics: “oh, I could sing unending songs of how you saved my soul. Well I could dance a thousand miles because of your great love. My heart is bursting Lord to tell of all you’ve done. Of how you’ve changed my life and wiped away the past. I want to shout it out from every rooftop. For now, I know that God did for me, not against me.” This song really is a peek into how God can make you happy. The other song I chose was a song that my grandmother and I used to always listen to. It has always been a special song to me. It was called ‘The Rain, The Park, and Other Things” by the Cowsills. Here are some of the lyrics: ‘I saw her sitting in the rain. Raindrops falling on her. She didn’t seem to care, she sat there and smiled at me. Then I knew, she could make me happy.” It’s a very light hearted song that helped me through so much. Music influences your mood by so much.
The Bible is such an amazing thing to read. There are just so many life lessons and history. I think we can all agree it’s an amazing book. There are so many Bible verses about happiness. One of my favorites is “Love is patient, love is kind, love does not boast.” It is so important to be kind to others and to love others as well. Kindness and love go hand-in-hand and they should not be used to get ahead. There are so many ways that you could be a kind and loving neighbor to a stranger. For example, you could help them with their groceries or give them a complement. It feels so amazing to know that you arethe reason that somebody smiled. It’s like a rush of serotonin. You are putting their feelings in front of yours, and that is the kindest thing of all. My grandmother used to tell me an acronym for the word joy. It stands for Jesus, others, and yourself. You put everybody above yourself and that is the best thing you could do because you are humbling yourself.
The final thing that I will write about is how important it is to be okay and accepting that you are going to have bad days. You can’t be happy all of the time, it is merely impossible. And those bad moments in your life help you remember the good times. Bad days are the type of days that humble you after having a good week. You’re just so high and happy, but then that one tiny thing happens and you’re mood is all the way down the drain, but that is okay! You can look back on a funny joke or a happy memory and it keeps you going. That’s all that matters in life. Just keep moving forward. It is something that I cannot stress enough. You might be going through something awful, but try to remember the good times and things do get better. It might not be all sunshine and rainbows at the moment but it does get better, and God is always there if you want to talk. Prayer is a great and awesome way to get all of your feelings out.
Citations
• Delirious?, The Happy Song, Sparrow Records, 1994
• ‘Gloom to Grateful’, New York Times, 2017
• ‘Revolution in Happiness’, New York Times, 2016
• The Cowsills, the rain, the park, and other things, 1967
• Roko Belic, Happy, Ted Talk, 2018
• Albert Einstein, happiness quote, 1936