A Little Happiness to Brighten up your Day

So life can suck sometimes. We all know this - life beats us down and we sometimes wonder why it's worth all of it in the end.I have struggled mightily throughout my life and there are a few things that bring me solace.

The image above I found when I was listening to one of my favourite musicians - audien - audien is a progressive house musician who combines heavenly sounds with edm music. The video for the image is below:

The image itself is stunning - a place high above the clouds - you feel like you can kiss heaven itself - and it just feels so warm and alone, the dawn or the dusk - just enjoying the lingering rays, alone and away from the rigors of life - where you feel you could just freeze time and make that moment last forever.. it reminds me that sometimes the best way to recharge is just to immerse yourself in nature - the divine light of the sun, and just recharge and recuperate.

The song is called "people do not change" - and I pondered over this truth for a long time - and I realized it is more along of the lines of "people are not changed" - it is not up to us to change people - it is up to them to change themselves. It is also not up to us to WANT to change people - we should not be around people because we want to mold them into something we find agreeable - but because we actually want to experience life together with them - thus we must accept people for how they are - accept them for their faults, not despite them.

-----

This image is of my parents on their wedding day - they look so happy, and their marriage has been an inspirational story of true love - they are now in their 70s and still as happy as the day they were married - you can tell they are best friends as well as lovers.

This comforts me in that it gives me a strong comforting foundation for life knowing that in this world of so many divorces and unworked through problems there are still examples of relationships where they stick it through, through thick and thin.

Every day they kiss each other and tell each other that they love each other - do cute little things together, help raise their grandchildren, and just live a nice relaxed retired lifestyle - it's a testament to perseverance and true love and I am glad to have it as an example in my life and only hope that others can draw inspiration from it too!

-----

Lastly I once long ago came across a musician named Andy Mckee. I found his song "drifting" and was captivated by how it just seemed to make you drift away - there was a purity to it I found was lacking in other guitarists. So one day I decided to go to one of his concerts - and there was just.. this inner light that radiated out of this small man.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddn4MGaS3N4

So I started to follow him on social media:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/andymckeemusic/

The man is always happy - always optimistic - humble and modest - he is just so happy in bringing his music to people and lighting up their lives! In his spare time he teaches people to play guitar at home - he is always serving others - and spiritually that is such a grand inspiration. He reminds us all that we are here to enjoy life, and the best thing we can do is share how much we enjoy it with others, to lift all others up to the joy we experience and help them experience it through us. I look at his smiling face and I am just.. happy he exists. He shines like a beacon and it makes me happy.

When he is adjusting his guitar in between songs he always has a happy story to tell people of his adventures - and there is always laughter at his shows.

It is something to remember - if he had just been a talented musician I might have forgotten him over time - but it was the sense of GOODNESS and kindness in him that I felt that really cemented in me all these years, and that gentleness I felt through his music that truly make me remember him.

It is not the feats and achievements you make in this life that people remember you for, but what type of a person you are. Nobody remembers the asshole for anything good, but they remember the person who was kind and loving to everyone that they felt deserved that love. Optimism is a wonderful thing, and we forget that many times in life. We only have ourselves to blame if we decide to wallow in self misery and pity - for the world has so much good to offer! We just have to have people come into our lives to help us remember that - so thank you andy - you'll always be appreciated by me for that :)

-shawn-