‘If all the people in all of the World would turn their worries into laughter then all of the people in all of the World would live happily ever after.’
Who said that? It's a line from an awesome children's book.
Because apparently kids get it, while most adults still don’t. And I say 'most' because there are always some amazing exceptions.
The other day my brother told me about this place in the outskirts of Milan called ‘Balzo’ (http://www.balzo.it/). In this wonderful little restaurant, his friend's son and other mentally disabled people aged 17 to 40, have the opportunity to work as part of a team preparing and serving food or beverages to the clientele. It sounded so amazing that I had to check it up. What struck me the most was how sincerely happy these kids were to just being able to be there to help others. What I saw was pure joy, pride and excitement. It made me think about all the miserable waiters in New York who clearly forgot how to smile...
We busy our minds with so many thoughts, worries and fears.
We create stories where we over complicate situations, over analyze them and play every possible bad scenario resulting in fear and anxiety.
We do all that to ourselves.
Our minds grows restless and as a result our external lives become chaotic.
It just doesn't make sense.
Berhaps there is a lesson there. And the lesson would be to keep things simple and to stop overcomplicating life just because we keep refusing to accept that happiness is already here, always has been and always will be. We are refusing to acknowledge all that we are gifted with in our lives, to feel grateful for it.
So not only we create all this mental drama. but we then spend even more time trying to forget about it by filling our heads with numerous hours of TV, social media or gaming. The little time that is left it’s barely enough for a good night sleep.
You see, if you tell a kid how important it is to be present, to pay attention to everything that is around us, tell them not to worry about tomorrow or the past because they would only end up missing out on life, they look at you like what you are an idiot, because to them it's just so obvious.
To them and to everyone else who remains true to his or her nature. Like those kids at Balzo...
No matter what apparent challenge life has thrown at them, they don't sit there and waste their time overanalyzing their circumstances or being a victim. They embraced life with such joy! They are happy because they are allowed to help others.
Instead of taking they give. They have so much love to give to everyone and they do it with a permanent sincere smile on their faces. That's how everybody should be.
Life is beautiful and that's what we should be focusing on. More appreciation for everything that we have and more focus on giving back.
What does it have to do with stopping us worrying? Why don't you try?
There are so many things that we can share with others: we can donate old clothes, food, blood or simply a smile, a hug or your time. It's not always about money, so no excuses: we all have something that we can give. And the more we give the more we realize what really matters and most important how insignificant our worries really are. We realize that it’s not ‘all bout me’ and the more joy we bring to others the more we get back. And joy leaves no room for worries.
Take a moment to really think about this, sit down and clear your mind.
Call it a daily reset if you wish.
Once the mind it’s clear pay attention to what you let back in. There should never be too much going on in there at once.
Peace is what you are aiming for and that can only be achieved by being aware and in charge of the direction of your thoughts.
Happiness is not achieve via external means but it’s an internal state of being... of mind.
So make room for it.
A special thank you to my brother Davide for bringing Balzo to my attention and ultimately inspiring this post.