Cheer up, dude!

Keep it happy, and it'll come back to you.....

Last week a friend called & we got to talking about a friend of hers who has been really low lately. She asked what I would do to cheer him up, and I couldn’t really think of anything (since I don’t know him), so she asked me what I would do to cheer myself up. Then she had an emergency call or something, so she yelled, “Write me with the list!” and hung up.

Shoot, everybody’s got the way they face down the problems of the world, and she asked, so here goes – here’s the little list I made her, with no sense that my list is better than anyone else’s:

Thanks for asking about your friend… I sure hope he gets to feeling better. As a community service (of the IB/San Juan Update Cheer-Ya-Up Clinic), here are ten things I do to cheer up:

1) Watch the movies “It’s A Beautiful Life” or “Brother Sun, Sister Moon.”

2) Sing “If you want to sing out” at the top of my lungs, usually in the back yard, dancing. (Here’s the song, in case he doesn’t know it – dance along:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSzuAx3BE94&feature=related

3) Write somebody & tell them to quit whining. This makes me feel very important. He could write them, too.

4) Sit with the cats on my feet, keeping them warm. The cats & the feet.

5) Playing with kids at the elementary school – it’s easy: ya go to the school & tell ’em you’ll type a kid’s story while they dictate it to ya, then they read it back to you. They love it, and you get to see inside the cracked & warped second-grade minds which will one day be the leaders of tomorrow. Love ’em.

6) Take a longer walk than yesterday. Lotta woods around here – that helps. Beach is OK, too, long as you don’t mind the shell shortage, here. 🙂

7) Second glass of wine. Maybe the third.

8) Smiling practice: Go along the street or into store & ask about anything, but smile real big & see if you can get the other person to smile. Score: Five – it’s a good day; Eight – the world loves ya, baby; Twelve – You command. The cool part, of course, is you can’t feel bad with all those people smilin’ at ya….

9) I believe, deeply, that you gotta have twelve hugs a day to be emotionally healthy. And cats & dogs don’t count for the first eleven – has to be a species closer to ours. Visit friends with an open heart & it’s easy.

10) Get pissed that the dark clouds keep hanging around, and resolve to show ’em who is boss. Do stuff to make ’em go away, or at least thin a bit.

Shoot, I hope he feels better. He’s gotta be smiling just a little (or more) that you’re looking after him – good luck. And thanks for giving me an excuse to make the list – that was fun, whether it’s useful of not. 🙂

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