Makisupa

When I wake up after a good night’s sleep to the sound of birds gently chirping outside my bedroom window, while a soft breeze blows the freshest air in as the sun begins to brighten the sky I am at one of my happiest moments. Then I see my beautiful wife and wonderful daughters, I know that I couldn’t be happier.  But then life comes crashing in and the ever pressing march of tasks, duties, and other responsibilities presses me back to a point where my happiness is stretched to its limits.

Ever been there? Most days, You say?  What happens next?

We let the pressures of our lives continue to push us until we have to release that pressure and often in the way of channeling it into someone else, and more often than not – our family receives the bulk of our grief and in turn it is sent right back to us in a cycle of continues pressure and stress with the people just a short while ago were the very definition of our happiness.

Where did our happiness go? Most of us will accuse others of stealing it from us, but the fact is that we simply discard it. It reminds me of the cop show when the officers get their fresh hot donuts and coffee, and then immediately receive a dispatch and proceed to dump everything in pursuit of their duty. But most of us aren’t cops and our emergencies are rarely that critical, besides who ever said you couldn’t enjoy your donut along the way.

Years ago a student of mine introduced me to the term makisupa,  which, as she told me; ‘Happy for no reason – you know no matter what’s going on choose to be happy and act that way.’  And that’s the definition I carry with me. (now I’m not a complete ignoramus, I do know and realize that this term is also used to refer to drug use and some other negative connotations) Sure the more common usage means to “act stupid” for no reason, but when you think about it, you often “act stupid” when you want to have fun.  It’s all about a frame of mind and choosing it.

All too often we allow outside influences affect us, and we then choose to be unhappy about it. That’s not to say that when your child pulls in the driveway with a brand new dent in the back of your car, that you need to be happy  about the circumstance. Instead what I’m saying is to not allow it to rob you of your happiness or worse choose to say or do things that in the heat of the moment you will may regret. Choose to hold on to your happiness, solve the problem, teach the lesson, maintain your relationship and realize that things are just things and that this moment in time is just a sliver of your existence.

The biggest regrets in my life have never been about the things I’ve lost, but rather the people I’ve lost due to make the wrong relational choices, and the opportunities I’ve lost for being to ticked off to take advantage of them.  Additionally, you are one part of the butterfly effect… you can either continue to build the storm or you can stop flapping your wings and let it subside.

Don’t get me wrong there are times for all of us that things get so bad, and they seem to just pile on and push us down further and further, fight your way out from under it, but all the while hold on to your happiness and know that God has built you to be tough enough for this challenge too… Choose to be Happy for No Reason at all, and when you have trouble remembering it… Act stupid for no reason… it’ll remind you…