The Secret To That Everlasting Glow

I’ve read many personal development books, and many of them swear by the belief that happiness comes from within. It’s inside you. Happiness doesn’t come from a gleaming new half a million dollars sports car. Nor does it come from a wardrobe full of branded clothes, bags, scarves and shoes.

It comes from what’s inside you – your emotions, thoughts, feelings. It is what you feed to your inner soul that emanates to your brain that tells you that you’re happy.

Now, I swear by these too. And I also witnessed one more thing that will make you feel, think and have loving and positive feelings, thoughts and emotions. What is it?

It is something that we have all known already. We probably have heard it so many times that we’re numb to this word.

It spells like this – A.T.T.I.T.U.D.E

Spells easy, reads easy. But to have a positive and cheery one isn’t as easy. To have a positive and cheery one and still maintain it in lousy days is even more challenging.

Yet there are those who’ve done it.

There was this taxi uncle who had it. He made my journey a very pleasant, enjoyable and certainly memorable one as he extolled the merits and virtues of being a cab driver.

There was this waitress who had it. She would beam with pride and happiness as she recommended us the popular dishes in the restaurant and watched us eat them in content.

There was this teacher who had it. Her gentility and tireless energy brought so much goodness into her class of students who had been sidelined by mainstream teachers due to their poor grades and even poorer concentration and interest in studies.

There was this stay-home dad who had it. His positive outlook in life made him appreciated the opportunity to be with his daughter, watch her grow and be a part of her life in an intimate way, even when the society still carried an unspoken prejudice towards men homemakers.

Hey, you would have known him if you had tuned in to Channel 8 from 9pm to 10 pm, Monday to Friday! Okay, I know, he isn’t real. He’s just one of the daddies in the current drama serial Daddy at Home. But, he has clearly demonstrated an undisputed fact that with a positive attitude towards anything in life, you are ultimately the winner.

By learning to see the merits of another side of life – one that was the total opposite of what he used to be: a senior corporate person who had it very well in his hey days to a family man whose world revolves around his wife and daughter – this daddy had discovered the true meaning of happiness.

It doesn’t come with the number of zeroes in your pay cheque, or how long your title is in your name card.

It comes with a positive attitude in your life. And with it, no matter what you do, you derive pride from it. You feel that you are important, and you are contributing to make this world a better place.

Naturally, you feel happy, because you have love. You love life. You love your family. You love yourself for who you are.

And when happiness seeps from inside, you can’t help but carry a glint in your eyes, glow on your face and a spring in your steps.