A Happy Conversation

Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose                ~ Lyndon B Johnson

So I’m back in the Sacramento area, I’ve rented a place her for a couple of months while I do a job search.  I’m happy to report I have an interview on March 7th so things are moving forward for me.  It’s nice coming back to someplace you lived and worked for some time.  I had the pleasure of hanging out at my old workplace a bit over each of two days and visiting and catching up with friends.

It’s been a bit of a surreal experience returning, settling into an apartment, running errands.  The treasure hunt that has been digging through my storage space has yielded some odd results.  For instance in getting ready for my interview I was able to find my suits, my dress shirts, my pants and even my ties.  However, I have not been able to locate my dress shoes and socks.  I don’t think I’ll get the job if I show up in a suit barefoot, or wearing my hiking shoes, so I guess it’s off to do some shoe shopping tomorrow.

Although a bit weird it does feel good to be settled a bit.  I’ve really enjoyed cooking the last couple of days and have been eating a lot.  I want to cook everything I haven’t had in a long time immediately, so it will be good to get back into my daily gym routine this week.

I was wondering what I would write about for my Sunday post, the report out above was of course part of it, but didn’t have a lot to do with happiness, then I bumped into one of my favorite people at my old job.  He’s a custodian and besides just being a nice guy and a hard worker he’s always happy.  In the three years we worked together I never saw him in a down mood, never heard a negative word from him.

I was instantly happier once I saw him, his positivity is down right infectious.  I told him how much I appreciate his attitude and he smiled, of course, and told me it made no sense not to be happy.  He related to me that in his fifteen years in the United States he has come to know that this country is really a wonderful place.  That he’s so thankful every day for his life here, once again we see that gratitude pays dividends.  He grew up in the former Soviet Union and his life when he was younger was tough and full of deprivation.  He truly loves the United States and not just what America represents but the actual realization of that in his day to day life.  I think the favorite thing he said to me was how nice it is to just to be able to live your life day to day, work, relax, sit in the sunshine.

He truly gets the formula for happiness including not having expectations that are unrealistic, appreciating and focusing on the small things, being mindful, and expressing gratitude.  He also said to me that even when he feels bad, he smiles, because just smiling makes him feel a little bit better and helps him have a happier day.  So smile and have your own happy day my friends ~ Rev Kane

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