Be happy today

Sometimes we are just overwhelmed by the dues and responsibilities and we don't spend enough time enjoying. We do things for a reason, or so we should. We don't work for the sake of it. We don't spend time with people we despise because we are masochists. We don't make the best of ourselves because it's in our genes.

We do it for a reason. That reason is not the same depending on the person. Some people do it because they think they have to. Some people because they enjoy it. Some for their beloved. Some people because it pays the bills of a lifestyle that they decided to follow. Whatever the reason, make sure you have one. That will give you strength to overtake any difficulties, to get a new breath when you are in dispair, to not surrender. And if ultimately you decide you don't like that reason or the outcome doesn't really fulfill you... and if you think you can change, then change. Living for a reason gives meaning to life, beyond the simple "be born, grow, reproduce and die" that used to define the living beings. You could add many things in between those verbs, but if they don't make sense to you... your life may not be very fulfilling. Although it may for others.

It is funny to think that when slavery was abolished, in many places the slaves were in total dispair. Their way of life had changed abruptly and they were not necessarily prepared, because many of them didn't dream about freedom. And some saw more trouble being free than being slave under the responsibility of their lord. A lord that would tell you what to do, what to be. Or not. This means, don't take things for granted... make sure you have some dreams and some reasons... and go for them.

Is there enough education in the world of your own will? Do we encourage our kids to dream and to decide for themselves? Or... do we simply prepare for a type of life were they are supposed to fit? It's also a personal choice to fight against the expectations of society (this starting in your closer relatives, although that is a special relationship, normally more based in love than in interest). Some people fight and decide. Some just follow. The freer a society, the more people deciding by themselves... although maybe not in all aspects of their life, but truly on those who make sense to them.

Some people want to be rich. Some want to make money. Some people just want to be what they dreamt of being. Do you see how different lifestyles can you have? And how many want to make a better society? How many want to give to society as much as they got... or even more?

At some point I should look for a number of statistics that I think could be Key Performance Indicators (KPI, in the business environment) of certain aspects of society. In my opinion, some small indicators describe better social trends than some of the major global indicators.

But I was supposed to talk about happiness. May or may you not have a reason for living the way you do... I hope you just feel happy today. I encourage you to be happy today, no matter what. Just think the good things that happen to you. Who loves you, what do you have, what can you do, who can you love, the opportunities that you have access to... And even if you are not in the mood, even if you think your work sucks, even if you were left stranded by a partner, you lost a beloved relative, or your job... think again... think that you are still breathing, still thinking. You still keep a potential to do things and an experience (maybe) that will help you accomplish those things. You may need to reduce them... you may not become the next Bill Gates... but sure you can find a reason to start again. A new, fresh start... another reason to live. Or just the same, with more experience in your back that may help you, this time, to achieve your goals. The only one who loses is the one that stops fighting for what he wants.

Be happy today. Find your reason to be happy today, and just be. It's a wonderful day. Don't waste it reading bad news, generating negative vibes and feelings... Make someone else happy by smiling to them, for no reason in particular, or just because it's a wonderful day. And if it's not as sunny as it is here in Barcelona... make it brighter with a smile or any other effort to make you and those around you happier. It's part of the fight.