Excuse me while I shift my paradigm

So I spent some time recently doing some blog strolling ? different from trolling, because the blogs I looked at are all people I know/am related to ? and made an important discovery. Maybe it isn?t so much a discovery as a wake up call.
First, I?m pretty much the only guy I know who keeps a blog. Sure, it could be argued I don?t keep a blog as the postings have been so few and far between over the past year, but for argument?s sake we?ll say I do.
Second, a lot of people I know are genuinely happy people. The posts I read were positive, upbeat, optimistic and authentic by people I know all have struggles of one kind or another in their lives ? they?re either going thru school and are poor as dirt, have health problems, fight the good fight of raising a family in less than impressive times, etc?
I started the day at 5am, having gone to bed earlier in the morning (not a typo) after taping and painting for about 6 hours; my attitude was not prime. But after perusing afore mentioned posts, a sense of peace and happiness settled upon me and has since changed my outlook on the day.
Happiness is truly contagious.
My revelation is that people need to know I?m happy and that I make the choice to be happy even though life isn?t the vacation I sometimes wish it would be. I?m not one of those people who is always smiling, so it?s not about being fake or having one of those perm-a-grins; it?s simply acknowledging there are things and people to be happy about and until I am a quadriplegic laying alone in a some hospital bed with nothing but MSNBC and The Real Housewives of Whatever-City/County/State-They-Come-Up-With-Next on the tube, there will always be a reason to choose to be happy.
So, let the following be known:
Today is a good day
I?m stoked to take my first time off of the year over the next 3 working days
My lawn ? tilled under, seeded and worked from scratch ? is green and looking good
Lydia is awesome and makes me laugh every day
I?m excited to have another little girl in our house
I?ve repainted the entire house in less than 2 weeks and it looks GOOD
?A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have? ~ Gerald Ford
And if I could extrapolate these personal results, it would seem that putting our best face forward ? despite any issues, problems, etc actively occurring in our lives ? positively impacts the lives of others. And when it seems we are about to drown in troubles not of our doing or wallowing in the filth of our own self-pity, there are those around who, purposely or unknowingly, lift us up. All we need to do is look.