Life can really beat us down.  There is always someone ready to burst your bubble, tell you a truth you would rather not know, give you bad news, or tell you your butt looks big in those jeans.  I am always amazed that no matter how many committees, teams, groups or organizations I work in, there is always someone in the group who has the ability to make everyone want to avoid their form of “truth”.  Someone always feels the need to keep happiness from spontaneously breaking out in any room they are in.  Often these folks travel in pairs or in triplets, and they are in the lunch room, stalking the halls, or around every corner, just ready to take the wind out of the sails of anyone who happens to be in a good mood.

So how to we manage to stay on top while so many people want us to be just as unhappy as they are?  I find the answer to that must lie within each of us.  It is so easy to get pulled down into a vortex of negative, critical thinking.  I do believe one thing that helps is to find one person who is always in a good mood and make friends with them.  I have always found that people with a happy disposition tend to rub off on everyone around them.  They can sometimes even make the dark clouds in our lives seem happier.

Another trick I learned while working at a place that seemed to have a whole department full of dark clouds, was to limit my time with them.  Let’s face it, we may be forced to interact with these people at work or in church, or on a committee at school, so we must be prepared to handle them as necessary.  I learned never to deal with them when I was tired, hungry, sad or in any other weakened state.  I made contact only as I needed to and for as brief a time as possible.  I also tried not to deal with them alone, since they seem to travel in packs, I didn’t want to get surrounded.

Also, never commiserate with them, if they think you agree they make you a member of their sad little club.  Never go to them for advise or to let off steam, that also could get you drawn into their group and then they want to be around you all the time.

Surround yourself with positive people.  The people that have the most access to your personal life should be the ones that will tell you that you look fat in those jeans by directing you to something more flattering, not by laughing and pointing.  Create a positive circle around yourself so that you can stay as positive as the world will let you be.

Also, don’t be one of the those people.  Even if your natural temperament is one that leans toward sadness and critical thinking, try to keep yourself positive and happy.  Happy people live longer, have more friends and get through the rough spots in life more gracefully.  Being critical of others makes you feel critical, but trying to see the good in others automatically makes you a happier person.  Find the things in life that make you happy and don’t dwell on the things that could bring you to that sad place.

Like most things in life, being happy is a choice.  We can choose who we associate with, how we respond to problems, who are best friends will be and whether or not we are going to make the most of every opportunity.  The choice is yours, choose wisely.