When I was a sophomore in college I received a package in the mail from my mother. When I opened it up, it had four things inside: newspaper for padding, a summer sausage, a lime, and a Post-It sized note that said, “Cut sausage into quarter-inch slices. Squeeze lime over top. Now that’s FLAVAH!”
My mom is the queen of making the best of it. Our family has never had a lot, so it was unlikely that I was ever going to get a package in college with new clothes or a computer or really anything useful, actually. But when my mom realized how delicious a slice of summer sausage was with lime on top, she couldn’t stand the idea of her daughter a thousand miles away missing out.
There is a real power in simply trying to enjoy life. We know life can be hard. In fact, Mormons (and maybe religious people in general) have developed a whole vocabulary about how hard life can be. Does “the dark and dreary world,”ring a bell? How about “state of probation?” or “seeing through a glass darkly?” Anyone wanna visit the “terrestrial world” with me? You get it. We’re on this side of the veil. It’s not always going to be good. But it is in this environment that we are promised it is possible to be cheerful. Don’t you think God must sometimes feel like a parent on a vacation with a bunch of grumpy teenagers who do nothing but complain and wish they were home with their friends? Can’t you imagine him saying, “Get over it! You’re here. You’re not going anywhere. You can choose to be happy or miserable. Can’t you just try to have a good time?”
My friend Christy works for an investment management firm. Most of the time she works in her normal office doing her normal job, but a couple of times a week she works in the call center at night where people call in to ask questions about their 401(k) plans. Let’s just say nights in the call center of a retirement services company are not exactly a non-stop party moment to moment. Well, Christy has taken to instigating late night group exercise sessions, just to shake things up a bit and stave off boredom. She and her co-workers take turns being in charge of leading the group in one cubicle-sized exercise routine, such as outstretched arm circles, or head-bobbing, or fake bullet-dodging a la The Matrix. Keep in mind that all of this takes place while they’re connected to their phones with headpieces, ready for the next call.
I read an article recently about four grown men who have been playing a game of tag for over 20 years. They now live in different parts of the country, but for one month out of every year, the game is on. These four adult men spend the entire month petrified that their old buddy from college who lives hundreds of miles away is going to pop out from behind a bush and tag them and they will be stuck being “it” for the next 11 months.
For years, my sister and a couple of my friends and I have been passing around a ridiculous stuffed cat as a prank. We hide it in each others’ freezers or showers, or stuff it in a piece of luggage when the prankee is not looking. It’s disgusting, but you know every time I get duped into taking that stupid cat home with me, it puts a smile on my face.
My sister and my dad will text each other every once in a while out of the blue with funny lines from movies they both like.
I once saw an old man dressed up as an old dirty swan walking through a crowd of tourists, apparently just to make people laugh.
There are endless ways to bring some spice to your life and some joy to those around you. It’s actually pretty simple.
Editor’s Note: This is a post in an ongoing series on how to flourish. Posts are published on Tuesdays.
