The Italian Lady on the Train

We wake up every day of our lives and we get to make a choice. Are we going to be happy and content today or are we going to be sad and miserable?

Now, I'm not saying that there are some tough days where sadness is going to be inevitable or splendid days where happiness is just going to naturally occur.

But on your average day, we get to make a choice. There are so many unhappy people in this world. Mad at life. Pissed off at something.

Maybe it's their job. Maybe it's their spouse. Maybe it's just their view of life. They might enjoy small parts of their days but for the most part these unhappy people are of the opinion that life is out to get them.

I don't get it.

Granted, I've been given lots of opportunities in life and have never been truly hungry or been in the least bit poor. But my experience doesn't explain why I believe you have a choice to be happy in life. These short stories, however, do:

The Italian Lady on the Train

When I traveled to Europe with Waldorf in 2004, Chase Chisholm and I were sitting on a train in Italy traveling to our next destination. We ended up sitting by this old Italian lady. She didn't seem poor at all she just seemed like a simple, elderly lady from rural Tuscany.

Neither of us spoke Italian and she spoke no English, but using our basic knowledge of Spanish we were able to communicate well enough.

We "talked" for probably an hour. I don't remember what we talked about but I remember how happy she was. She just seemed content with life. Content and pleased to talk with two young American boys who knew no Italian. I'll never forget that conversation.

Mrs. Yin

My family went to Yin Yin's every couple of weeks when I was younger. It was a great Chinese restaurant in Mason City. Not good. But great. No buffet. But awesome Kung Pao Beef. No cat. Just awesome food.

We went so often that we ended up becoming good friends with the owners. We called them Mr. and Mrs. Yin. Their little boy Henry often waited on us and he was the cutest little kid -- he made everyone smile right when they walked in the door.

Mrs. Yin -- although often feisty-tempered -- was one of the happiest, funniest people I've ever met. She worked her butt off and so did her husband....but they always greeted us so warmly. They made delicious food. And we even received presents from them during the Chinese New Year.

Mrs. Yin just served Chinese food to a bunch of hungry Americans. She could have been quiet, depressed and unwelcoming. But she chose to be the opposite.

Her husband would step out of the hot kitchen sweating profusely but he ALWAYS smiled at us and waved.

I wish Yin Yin's was still open but I'm guessing that Mr. and Mrs. Yin still make the decision to be happy almost every day!

The Big, Black Lady in Dallas

My dad has always told me that if you are going to work at McDonalds you might as well be a happy McDonalds employee. The living example of this was a lady we met one random night in Dallas, Texas.

If I remember right, a group of us Waldorf newspaper folk were running late and were about to miss the last public transit ride to our hotel. We rushed into the station and were a couple of minutes late...no more tickets were supposed to be sold.

But a guy in our group, Matt, schmoozed this lady into giving us tickets and I'll never forget how funny she was. She kept calling us and him "honey" and was just laughing and joking around with us.

A lady at the end of her shift in a public transit station was being nice to a bunch of tardy Iowans who had no clue where they were going. She chose to be happy at her job and I bet we weren't the only group of tourists she chose to be nice to.

She sold the same ticket to a bunch of strangers everyday but she made her job fun. Why wouldn't she choose to be happy? The alternative sucks.

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Okay, maybe I went on too long. Maybe I didn't even explain my point. But I hope you understand that almost everything you do in life can be done in a more positive manner.

Disputes can be handled rationally and without personal attacks. People can smile more often. Strangers can be nice to other strangers.

For a country full of Christians, we could do a better job of treating our neighbor as our self. And being our brother's keeper. And seeing the good in everyone.

We come up with so many excuses to be angry. We should come up with more to be happy.

Enjoy the ride,
Damm