Friday, February 17, 2017

The Importance Of Laughing And Smiling As Often As Possible (Troubles Are Always Lurking).

Most of us have heard the saying "Laughter is good for soul" at sometime or another. As I have grown older and wiser, that saying has come to impact my life significantly. Smiling and laughter are probably two of the easiest things that we as people are able to do. They don't cost anything to do, and very little effort is required to engage in them. Growing up as kids, we were taught to smile for pictures, as well as laughing whenever we see or hear something that we find funny. Easy right? While I believe that it is important for kids to smile and laugh a lot, I also feel that it is just as important for us as adults to find things that smile us smile daily. Too many of us find ourselves caught up in the daily struggles of life that we often forget the importance of laughing and smiling. Most of us are aware of how smiling and laughing can benefit us mentally and psychologically. I mean we naturally feel good whenever we're able to engage in these acts genuinely. However, I've grown to realize that there is another benefit that these acts can potentially bring us; appreciation. Life is unpredictable, which means that troubles are always lurking. This is one of the main reasons why I've come to realize the importance of laughing and smiling as much as possible.

Hey, how's it going ladies and gentlemen? Brad H. back at it once again with another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! Hope everyone has been doing well and staying positive since the last post. It's been nearly two weeks since the Super Bowl has taken place, and I thought I would quickly share my thoughts on the result. In my last post, I had mentioned how I didn't like neither team, but I was pulling for the Falcons since they had several local players. I also mentioned that I thought the Patriots would win, which was ultimately what happened unfortunately. While watching the game, I was very excited thinking that Atlanta was going to win once they took that commanding 28-3 lead. I was texting with several friends about how it was over, etc. Of course that turned out to be wrong in the end. I really have no explanation for why Atlanta basically conked out in the second half of that game. It really looked like an entirely different team that showed up in the second half. I jokingly told a friend that they clearly must have celebrated at halftime and had a few drinks or something. Anyway, although it is disappointing for me to accept, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is now a 5 time Super Bowl champion. I really feel bad for the Atlanta fans out there. Its gotta suck to know that your team blew a lead that big. Anyway, I just wanted to give my thoughts on the game real quick. Now lets go ahead and talk more about the importance of laughing and smiling as often as possible.

As I always point out before discussing topics on here, peoples individual viewpoints and opinions will always vary. The goal here isn't to focus on what is considered right or wrong, but rather to paint a topic in a light that readers may not have looked at before. I don't expect everyone to share in my views, but I do hope that the way I view things can leave others with something to walk away thinking about more. Any comments or views on this or any other topic that anyone may have are always welcome here. There isn't much to get into on how this topic came about. As I stated previously, wisdom and age deserve the biggest credit for why I thought about this particular topic. This topic is one that I often talk about my family members of mine. I mainly discuss it often because I feel that we often don't appreciate how blessed we are whenever things are going fairly well for us. Many of us develop that complacent state of mind and forget that all it takes is a second for things to change. As with the majority of my writings, I hope that this topic can serve as a reality check for those of us that may be in need of it. If you are one of those people that this may apply to, there should be absolutely no shame in needing a reality check. I think it is something that we all need occasionally.

So we all know and hear about how small acts like laughing and smiling help regulate good vibes. For whatever reasons that may be, laughing and smiling just makes us feel happy for that present moment that we're engaging in them. From my perspective, I believe there is no price tag that can be placed upon seeing someone that you haven't seen in a long time that you care for, which fills us up with unspeakable happiness that causes us to grin from ear to ear. I also believe that there is no tangible value on seeing something that causes us to laugh uncontrollably until the point where we're crying tears of joy. All of these things make us feel good and happy right? Now we're all aware that in life, for everything that is good and makes us smile and laugh, there is also bad that comes with frowns and tears of pain. There is no getting around the fact that regardless of how much happiness and joy that life can bring, pain, heartache and sorrows are also a huge part of life as well. A huge chunk of the heartaches of life that we experience are things that happen outside of our control, but there are some people that bring a lot of these things upon themselves. Well bringing it upon themselves may not be the best characterization, but some people allow themselves to mentally remain in a state of depression when things aren't going so well.

So why is it important not to allow ourselves to remain in a negative state of mind constantly? Think about this for a second; one day you keep on living, someone that you know or love is going to die. More likely than not at some point in your life, you're going to know what it is like to fall in love with someone and experience a heartbreak. You're going have the experience of wanting to achieve a goal, only find that you're gonna experience failures occasionally. You probably get the gist of what I'm saying, but the thing that these things have in common is that they are guaranteed to happen eventually, and they also bring heartache and disappointment. So it's fairly plain and simple why it is important to laugh and smile as often as possible. We have to do these things have often as we can because troubles and hardships are always lurking. Death, strife and stress are all guaranteed in this life, so in between those sad moments that are guaranteed to happen in life, we have to be able to smile and enjoy life as best as we possibly can. As I mentioned earlier in the post, smiling and laughing can help give us a sense of appreciation. Since they are feel good acts, they can help teach us to appreciate the good moments in life, because the bad is always waiting in the cut.

Now with all of that said, I'm in no way saying that we should always be laughing and smiling. Life is all about balance, so of course we're going to face moments of sadness. All I'm saying is that we should always find something to smile or laugh about daily. Beyond just being a great act to engage in, smiling also has many benefits to us both physically and mentally. A few of them include the releasing of endorphins, lower stress and anxiety, and the increase of the immune system. So the message in this week's post is pretty clear and straightforward. Lets work on finding more reasons to laugh and smile daily, because troubles will always be lurking. I'm pretty sure that many of you out there don't have a problem laughing and smiling, so hopefully this can serve as a help to those that maybe have had a hard time finding reasons to smile as of late. Just know that no matter how much darkness you're facing, there is always something to smile about. The quote that I'm going to leave you all with today comes from a great song by India Arie called "There's Hope". There's a lyric in the chorus on the song that goes; "There's hope, it don't cost a thing to smile, you don't have to pay to laugh, you better thank God for that."

Well my peeps, we have arrived at the end of another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'. I thank everyone that stopped by to check out what I have to say once again. As always, my hope is that there was some meaning and understanding that could be gained from this topic. In the event that isn't the case nor applies to you, your visit here is still appreciated. If anyone has any feedback or thoughts to contribute, feel free to leave those down below. Hope you all have a great and enjoyable weekend ahead. For those of you that are basketball fans, be sure to check out the NBA's All Star Weekend that starts today. Alright I'm out guys, so until next time, I wish you all peace, wellness, and positive thoughts. See you all in the next one.

©2017 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.

Friday, February 3, 2017

Deserve Hasn't Got Anything To Do With Life (Bad Things Just Happen Sometimes).

There was an extremely popular show that aired in the mid 2000's that I'm pretty sure that many of you are familiar with called 'The Wire'. For those of you that maybe aren't as familiar with the show, I would highly suggest giving it a look if you can. Those of you that are fans of the show will probably know where I'm going next based on the title of this week's post. There was a popular character on show named Snoop that said something in one of the episodes that I found memorable. Now I'm not going to go into the details of the scene in which she remarked the statement that I'm referring to. I don't want to spoil anything for those of you that have yet to see the show. The statement she aggressively remarked to another character on the show was "Deserve got nothing do with it." Some of you may wonder why such a short and to the point statement stands out to me so much. The reason I feel this statement carries so much weight deals with the fact that so many of us feel that we deserve the things we desire in life because we're good people, etc. I myself will admit that I've maintained this state of mind for the majority of my life, and I've come to realize how this way of thinking can be a huge hindrance to our lives. It is true that none of us are entitled to anything in life, and it is also true that regardless of how good of a person you may be, bad things just sometimes happen in life.

What's going on everyone? It's ya boy Brad H. back once again, and I'd like to welcome you all to another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! Hope everyone has been doing well, staying up, and maintaining since the last time I wrote. We have arrived at the month of February already, which means that it is time for the NFL's Super Bowl this upcoming weekend. I'm pretty sure that many of you are excited for the big game, but I'm personally not all that enthused since my Dallas Cowboys didn't make it. I'm just kidding with the Cowboys part, but in all seriousness I'm not too thrilled this year because of the two teams that are playing. I'm definitely not a Patriots fan, and I've never been a fan of the Atlanta Falcons either. Of course I will be watching the game like the majority of the world will be, but I'm kinda just like "meh" on this one. As for a prediction, I think the Patriots are going to win it. However, although I don't like either team, I will hoping that the Falcons win for a couple of reasons. One, although I'm not a Falcons fan, I do like their wide receiver Julio Jones. He is not only one of my favorite receivers, he is also one of my players in the entire league. Secondly, Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon is from my hometown, and their kicker Matt Bryant along with defensive tackle Jonathon Babineaux are local guys as well. Good luck to all the local guys from the Falcons. Alright, time to get into this week's topic of bad things just happen sometimes.

As with the regular routine here, I always maintain that peoples individual viewpoints and opinions will always vary. The objective here is isn't to focus on what is considered right or wrong, but rather to hopefully encourage readers to view various topics differently than they normally would. I don't expect everyone to share in my views or beliefs, but I hope that something can be taken away from what I talk about here. For some brief insight into how this topic came about, it pretty much comes from a conversation that I recently had with a family member of mine. This particular family member was sharing with me some of their opinions on this topic, and how it applies to their life. That conversation truly struck a chord within me that inspired me to come on here and talk about this topic. As I stated earlier, I believe the belief of feeling that we are deserved certain things because of who we are is something that many of us can relate to. I see this as a pretty straight-forward topic, but I think it is one that can serve as a reminder for some of us, as well as a reality check for those that maybe struggle with this. Again, whatever your thoughts and beliefs may be, I appreciate those of you that read, and whatever thoughts and feedback you may have are welcome here.

So many of us will have moments where we get the feeling that we are owed the things we want in life right? I believe a few of the reasons we often feel this way can be attributed to the hard work that we put towards earning something, or maybe we've attempted to maintain a certain standard of living in hopes that it will pay off down the road. While I believe that no one deserves praise for exemplifying these kind of qualities, I do find them to be admirable. If you happen to be one of the people with these qualities that are of the belief that you get out of life what you put into it, then the way of thinking when it comes to the topic at hand probably applies to you. Probably the biggest thing to keep in mind when it comes to life is that it is extremely unpredictable. Life is something that is constantly changing and evolving, which means that we all are going to deal with our shares of highs and lows. Because of the volatility that life brings, there always exists the possibility that regardless of how hard you work or how good of a person you may be, you may not always get out of life that things you feel you're deserving of. This can be hard reality for many people to accept, especially those that may be accustomed to things happening for them frequently. However, it is a necessary reality that we all must occasionally face.

One thing that I think history has tried to teach us is that bad things sometimes happen to good people. There are countless accounts and stories out there of tragic and unfortunate events happening to people that didn't do anything to deserve those things. Sometimes people just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, or maybe they were victims of circumstances that someone else may have been facing. Whatever the case may be, it doesn't matter who you are or what you've done in your life, bad things can happen to anyone at anytime. This is why in my opinion that I feel that it is important to try and throw out that whole "I deserve" mentality. There is nothing wrong with wanting or expecting things to happen your way, but having the mentality of thinking that you deserve or are entitled to certain things will always leave you disappointed. Saying all of that doesn't mean that I'm saying that we should be bad people. Of course we should strive to be the best version of ourselves that we can be. I'm simply saying that we should never rely on being good people as a means of thinking we're deserved things. Focus on trying to be the best person you can be, but never count on that for receiving good fortunes in your life.

So if you're one of those people that feels you're deserving of things, I encourage you to try and see things a little bit differently. Again, I'm not trying to discourage anyone or be negative with this topic; I'm just saying that in reality, bad things can and will always occur in our lives. But for all the bad that is in the world, there is always good that is going to come as well. I think that it's importance to appreciate any breaks that we may receive along this journey of life. However, see them for what they are and enjoy them when they come, because they can be far and few in between. I always try to leave a quote that I feel coincides with these topics before I end these posts. This is the one that I found for this topic that I feel resonates deeply with what I'm trying to express. The quote comes courtesy of Dennis Wholely and goes: "Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is like expecting the Lion not to attack you because you area vegetarian." We should all know by now that life is not always fair; we just have to learn how to live with that.

Well that's it for this week's topic folks! I'm going to go ahead and sign off for now, but thank you once again for all that stopped by to read another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'. As always, I hope that there was some meaning and understanding gained from this, and I really hope that some of you out there can feel where I'm coming from with this. Hope 2017 has been treating you all well so far, and I hope everyone enjoys the big game this weekend. I'll be back soon, so until that time comes, I hope everyone stays safe. Have a great weekend everyone, and I wish you all peace, wellness, and positive thoughts.

©2017 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.