Smiles and Laughter Spread Happiness

A few nights ago as I left a meeting at my friend Rick Goetz’s apartment, I heard a girl squeal with laughter. Up ahead of me she had been hoisted onto her boyfriend’s shoulder and he was running as she protested. They both were laughing as they passed by a beautiful young woman listening to music. Their situation caused this lovely woman to flash her own bright smile as they passed. When this young lady passed by me, she raised her eyes to mine and we both smiled broadly to each other at this spontaneous expression of the joy in life.
I am constantly amazed at how many good things in life we can find when we’re looking for the best in people. I now try to make a habit of looking for the good in everyone I meet.

These are tough times for a lot of us. As Sylvester Stallone said many years ago, “It’s hard to write the prize winning screenplay when you don’t have enough to eat.” Banks are continuing to fail, companies are still cutting jobs, and the housing crisis is certainly not over. Debt is the real issue. We have too much debt that won’t go away until people and governments stop spending more than they earn. I hear that Goldman Sachs may again be under suspicion for failure to disclose the true level of risk as they sold Greek debt swaps.
Manufacturers want to hire. The heavy earth-moving manufacturer Caterpillar has hired another 600 workers over the last 60 days. They see an increase in demand and are probably anticipating a boost in federal spending on roads and bridges.
Clean nuclear energy got a big boost this week when the government announced $8 billion in loan guarantees to help construct a new nuclear plant.
A weak economy means that city and state governments are facing lower tax receipts. Services will be cut back and for the first time in my memory, some government jobs will probably be lost. Another problem that will have to be dealt with eventually is the $1 trillion pension deficit looming for public employee benefits programs. Federal, state, county, and city governments have been “borrowing” from those funds for years and have failed to make required deposits.
Still, no matter how tough things are, it doesn’t cost anything to smile. In fact, smiles and laughter spread good cheer wherever you go.