From across the room, a distant heart feels the warmth of a humble smile. Dopamine and serotonin create a sense of euphoria. A never-ending smile will not prove as beneficial as an occasional upturn of our dimples. Can our cerebral reactions create a lasting happiness?

In a word, no. Happiness outlasts our chemical bliss. We are responsible for producing our joy. An approach to life’s problem dictates the resolve.

Attitude follows mind set.

Soothing our temper with slow deep breaths provides a better solution than a smile-laced witty comment.

Without control, rage can take over. This demon loves to create cardiac complications. Anger floods the heart with a sudden influx of adrenaline. Over stressing the muscle brings fatigue or, worse, catastrophic failure. Negativity has no place in our pursuit of becoming a beacon of happiness.

We are not awake every minute of every day, and our happiness works in the same manner. Life will present difficulties. It’s OK not to show a smile through these moments. But don’t dwell in this state. Find a resolution, come to terms and move forward. We are higher than the sum of our problems.

From our gestures to our words, we illuminate the world with love. The pursuit of happiness starts with a step inside. Remove stress and leave negativity behind. Clean out the friends-list, and lose the drama, nagging, gossipers. Use wisdom and be slow to replace them. A shallow list with quality people can produce more satisfaction than a vast catalog of foul mouth mongers. Quality, not quantity, is what we need. Find those who enlighten our happiness.

Self-judgment comes easy. There is nothing wrong with improvements. However, we should never kill our self-esteem. At times, we are our own worse critics. We should take the time to be our best praiser. We owe it to ourselves. Look in the mirror and smile. We are beautiful, healthy, unique, and needed. A soul is waiting to see our kindness in action. A third party reaction we may never see or hear is waiting for our light. We should never be kind for the sake of attention. We are above this pretentious mindset. In a world of negativity, we are the essence of happiness.

Steve Curtis

at1_curtis@yahoo.com