REM Was Right

 

When your day is long
And the night, the night is yours alone
When you're sure you've had enough
Of this life, well hang on

Don't let yourself go
'Cause everybody cries
Everybody hurts sometimes

REM and Michael Stipe not only struck a musical chord with their 1992 hit, "Everybody Hurts" but a human chord as well. 

Everybody DOES hurt. 

if you sit down in a crowded bar and looked around, everyone there is hurting.  Everyone there carries a painful burden in their heart.  If you queried the patrons, some of the scars may not seem that deep to you but I guarantee, it's deep for them. 

I dated a girl a long time ago, who cried every time this song came on and all I could do was hold her and let her cry. 

I think this is why we bump around into other humans (either on purpose or by accident).  

So we can feel.  

So we can heal.  

The next time the scab is picked on your wound and you start to bleed again, please remember...don't let yourself go. 

Hold on. 

Hold on. 

Happy Places

 “Just for a moment, amid all the bad stuff, this was a happy place again.”

McDonald's is a brilliant marketer. 

They took a hamburger, fries, and drink and re-branded it as a "happy meal."  Sometimes, you even got a toy with it.  They took the "every day" and made it something special.  No matter what kind of day you were having, a happy meal always made it better. 

Do you have a "happy place?"  

I know, happiness is a mindset and not necessarily connected to a physical place but we all have those special places where we are insulated from the real world. Where the monsters under our bed can't get us.  Where the darkness doesn't exist.  

I can honestly say, most of my happy places are more closely associated with the people who I am with but there are these special places that just seem different when I am there. 

Having "happy places" is a healthy concept.  Whether you have talked yourself into the magic of the location or not, it's important to spend time there. 

Life is beautiful but can be hard. 

Life is play but takes work. 

We all need our "happy places." 

"Can you supersize that, please."