Fradam

I’ve completely moved into the new place, and it is still quite startling how close everything is:

- Coles and Woolies about a block away

- 3 Asian grocery stores within walking distance

- An Indian grocery store that is as far as the Woolies!

… and work is about a 20-25 minute walk away. That’s right, I now walk to work! It’s quite a pleasant experience. The first morning was spent adjusting to the veritable cacophony of traffic all around me. It has been a while since I’ve been walking in the midst of that. Since then, I’ve got my MP3 player working, listened to my Beatles collection, discovered some quiet routes that make awesome avenues for prayer, had my MP3 player die, solved some maths puzzles, attempted to gain eye contact and smile at random strangers that I go by, been reading Velvet Elvis and found a new time of the day to call my parents. Best of all, I’ve found a great time of the day to do absolutely nothing; just clear my thoughts and attempt to walk. Walking.. I’ve really missed it.

I used to think of myself as quite the pedestrian.. Woody and I once walked to uni. It was for the purpose of collecting our student cards as I recall; so we walked 3 hours, and spent about 10 minutes on the grounds. Another day, I walked across a reasonable portion of the Northern Beaches - Sammie estimated it was about 30km after looking at the route on the map. There used to be a lot of walking. As life became busier however, the walking seemed to vanish.. which in hindsight seems quite sad, as it is only when experiencing it again, do I realise just how much I needed it. A little bit of space to just step away from the world and be calm. What perhaps is most surprising, is to be discovering this when I am closer to the city than ever before, literally thrust into the heart of a busy busy suburb full of busy busy people, and surrounded by an environment that compels activity. Yet, there is peace.

Today’s walk home felt like I was in Malaysia during the rainy season. The air is warm and sticks to your skin; slightly overweight droplets of rain scatter themselves inconsistently around the place. The sky is tinged by metallic overtones; scarring of industrialisation peeking out between the hazyness of a smog-like substance that causes the horizon to become blurry and indistinct. After a day of missing my home country, the only thing to do when experiencing this, was to laugh. And sing one of those songs made for singing in the rain.

The intoxicating aroma of young rain had wafted into the apartment by the time I arrived home.. an errant window no doubt had been welcoming it in. I loooove that smell. So much so, I decided to simply sit outside and enjoy it for a while.. let it soak in. Mmmm.

After witnessing two cars bump heads, I came back inside and watched an old favourite - Singing in the rain - come on, after a day like today, why not? I’m laughing at clouds!

As mentioned earlier, I am trying to record things that are on my mind, and what is important to me at this stage of my life. Ranking right up there, is the idea of happiness; the people around me being happy, and me in turn being happy also. So, what follows is a piece of my brain, kinda speaking to itself. Feel free to listen though, might learn something useful!

There are two things that people generally observe about me when meeting me.

1. I am tall.

2. I am smiling.

I smile because I’m happy (extra smiley faces added for dramatic effect). Why is the man in this picture smiling? Because he’s happy! Okay, so we’ve established that happiness is an important part of my life… but where does it originate?

In the people around me. It is an indelible fact that non-hermits are influenced by the world around us. Possibly hermits too in fact, but I haven’t undertaken any scientific research to test that theory yet. As we are all influenced by the events in the world around us, so, the happiness around us can in fact rouse similar emotions within us. So, I draw my happiness from those around me… it’s a pretty neat trick isn’t it? Not really — you probably do it too already. If you’ve got a friend who’s happy about something, you tend to feel a bit happier for them, right?
It is this principle which guides many if not most actions I take in life. The extent to which I influence others in their pursuit of happiness is contingent on the happiness I exude. Or to put it more succinctly: if I’m happy, those around me can be encouraged to be happy too.

This sounds all great in theory, but what about practice? If I was constantly happy, you might call me any/all of the following: delusional, insane, raving mad, nutty, senseless etc. No, it is a little something else… it is not quite consensus reality, but it is close. It is simply, optimism. Being hopeful, and looking for the bright side of the road. It is not about being silly, but about practical, realistic, optimism. It is possible, trust me!

So, if you’re still with me to this point, here is what we have established:

1. I am tall.

2. I am smiling.

3. My smiling is caused by happiness which is reflected off those around me and is in turn partially dependant upon the happiness that I emanate.

4. I am not insane.

Okay, that last bit might be a bit to swallow. But if we’re simply positive about the world, and optimistic about what the next day might bring, do we really know what we can do?

A classic example is public transport. I’m not sure how often we really think about it, but the drivers in our transport system can be quite pushed at times. They cop the flack of late night drunkards, have to try to be civil when on the job and generally don’t get much recognition from the people they see the most: their passengers. I make an effort as I disembark to thank the driver, and as I often use the rear exit, and am not soft-spoken, the words are reasonably audible to most people in the bus and surrounding suburbs. Nearly every time, it sparks a chain-reaction of many commuters suddenly remembering their manners and choosing to thank the driver.

What we have now is a happy driver who will go along their next bus route, all happy and cheery at the chorus of gratitude that was received at the close of their previous route. And then what? Just by their nature of being happy, they in turn affect their passengers who get on, with a friendly attitude and a smiling face. Bang, a chain reaction has been caused.

It is honestly that simple. If we look at the brighter side of the road, and remain optimistic, we are given real opportunity to affect the world around us, and in turn, feel happy at what we’ve done.

To close, I might just cite another example. A colleague at work the other day was not at his cheeriest best, and I was being optimistic about the situation. He admitted later, he was almost irritated at my attitude, but in a few days time, was feeling optimistic as well, saying “If you can’t beat em, join em!”

So, there you have it, the challenge is to go out and spread the happiness. Be optimistic in life, share your enthusiasm for the bright side of the road, and in turn, you can make a real difference in some lives. Sound a bit cliched? Not cliched enough? Well, take a look at this motivational image then!

Reach for the sky! … now that is cliched

But being happy/optimistic, never will be.