How To Have A Day That’s A Little Happier Than Yesterday
By Anonymous
Laugh at the woman who told you and your sister to quiet down in the line for the eye doctor. Laugh because you’re allowed to be happy while waiting in line for an eye exam. Dance to the catchy song in that commercial that’s always on. Dance no matter where you are or who you’re with. Just dance.
Sing along to the radio with the windows down without worrying who’s around to see you. Sing whether you have a good voice or not. Sing the whole way through. Make up the words if you don’t know them.
Be way too excited about something as small as making the perfect coffee because everyone knows it’s few and far between that you get the perfect amount of cream-to-sugar ratio. Enjoy every last drip. Go on walks in the rain. Open your mouth and try to catch the raindrops. Let your hair get soaking wet and don’t avoid puddles. Laugh when people look at your like you’ve gone nuts.
Smile at the kids who tried to make you feel bad about yourself in high school and university. Smile because you know you’re loved and good-intentioned and that’s all that matters. Smile when you see them ten years later in the grocery store. Smile and be polite that way they know they never broke your character.
Sit at the front of your lecture class and raise your hand. Ask questions and learn to love learning. Feed your passions and never stop searching for knowledge. Read books, all types, but especially memoirs. Read as many memoirs as you can and learn to empathize and relate to people regardless of who they are.
Make a duck face with the Pringles you’re eating. Eat fruit roll-ups like you used to in grade school and ask whoever you’re with what color your tongue is afterward. Pack Dunkaroos as a snack for work and then go out to a really grown-up restaurant for lunch because you understand the difference between youthfulness and immaturity.
Listen to Christmas music in the summer. Sing it out loud and laugh at the people on the bus who think you’re weird. Embrace your weirdness. Eat your Christmas chocolate calendar out of order. Eat the 20th on the 3rd and the 3rd on the 20th. Break rules, follow rules, do what you want to for no other reason than exactly that, because you want to.
Scream when you’re angry and cry when you’re sad. Dance when you’re happy and celebrate when you’re proud. Compliment people as much as you can. Try to compliment one person a day; just don’t forget to compliment yourself, too.
Be too dramatic, cold and, distant when you’re hurt. Let yourself grieve and take time to heal, but no matter what always pick yourself back up and let a situation make you better rather than bitter.
Watch that movie for the thousandth time, look at old pictures that make you nostalgic and visit places you used to live. But don’t forget to try that new coffee shop down the road, or to introduce yourself to the new girl at your office, or to buy that plane ticket to Paris you’ve always dreamed of.
Do what YOU want. Do it when you want, with whom you want to, however you want to. And above all, be yourself and be absolutely unapologetic about it.