Last week I had to bring my dog Boyd to the vet. His tail was glued to his bum and I was assuming that he ate something stupid and was having trouble “passing” it. Boyd is not a picky eater! That dog will eat just about everything and it has gotten him into trouble several times- a few times we had to visit our friendly veterinarian because of stupid things he has eaten. If you own a Labrador you know what I’m talking about! Well, this time, that wasn’t the problem. The diagnosis–he had sprained his tail.
Over wagging.
Too happy.
Yes too happy.
I wish I would have taken a picture.
He looked just like this drawing but more pathetic. There is nothing sadder than a lab who can’t wag his tail. Poor Boyd 😦

Then I started thinking- are there other consequences for being too happy?

Before I changed my lifestyle (started working out and eating clean), I wasn’t exactly the happiest person in the world. I wasn’t depressed but I wasn’t exactly what I would call happy. Now I feel happy almost all the time. Not ALL the time obviously- only crazy people are happy ALL THE TIME! But if my emotions were on a balance scale the “happy side” would weight more.
Right now my body is pumped full of endorphins and to be totally shallow and honest- every time I get dressed in my new smaller clothes that go with my new leaner body- I can’t wipe the smile off my face when I look in the mirror! Eating right and working out have made me very happy but are there consequences for being happy?
I think there are….
Consequences to being happy:
1. You will lose friends. Some people find happiness annoying or they like to dwell in “drama” so you are better off without them. But on the upside, like things attract- you will suddenly be surrounded by other happy people. It’s something I have personally noticed this year. There has been a slight shift in my social circle- I have lost a few people- but I have gained really quality people in my life- especially lately.
2.Time goes by so quickly when you are happy. This summer seemed like a blink of an eye. It’s now November…. where has the time gone? It seems like a few weeks ago I met my grade 4 class for the first time but it was actually months ago. Friday night (Halloween night) we did a special dress up workout class to 80’s music. A bunch of us dressed up and the class was so fun. I was super happy that night- I had an awesome day at work, my kids were having a fun Halloween night and the class was epically fun- but I’m telling you that 80’s class went by so fast! All of a sudden we were doing abs (the last thing before cool down)- I was actually kinda bummed because I didn’t want it to end.

3. You will take less sick days- so you will go to work more! Happy people are healthier so you will be at work everyday! Good thing for me I actually love my job. You will live longer too FYI!

Did you know that children smile on average 300 times a day but adults only average 20? I’m trying not to forget to be happy…but sometimes stress and being an adult get in the way. It was tough to be happy last week when my work life the last few weeks were quite stressful coupled with the attack at the War Memorial in Ottawa two weeks ago- sometimes it’s tough to be happy all the time in an adult world. One of the things I do to stop that powerless unhappy feeling I get from all the bad news in the world is I actually don’t watch the “nightly news”. I try to stay up to date on current events but I don’t watch that hour of bad news at 6 o’clock. I find seeing those news clips make me feel small and powerless. I’m not saying you shouldn’t watch the news but I don’t and I don’t let my children watch either. I try to watch uplifting and motivating things.

Another thing that made me super happy last week was my husband did some cooking so I didn’t have to! Yay Matt! He made my favourite chili and I ate it for lunch everyday last week. He made Black Bean Chili with Cilantro, Lime and Avocado Salsa. So yummy! You can find the instruction at http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2008/01/black-bean-and-beef-chili-recipe-with.html. The Avocado Salsa really adds to the whole Chili experience so don’t leave it out!

Amazing!!!!
So don’t forget to smile today. Make an effort and remember to smile. It’s actually easier than frowning.

Choose happy 🙂