Starting your day with a smile

I have always been amazed at those people who say they can’t start their day until they have their first jolt of caffeine.  Me, I am one of those people who most people get disgusted with quickly – most days I start my day with a smile and a reminder that I still have a lot of life left in me.

It is generally easy for me to do that.  To begin with I have two starts to every day.  The first one is about two hours before the second one.  The first start of the day can be anywhere from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. depending on the first time I wake up.  At that point I immediately take my pain pills for all my parts that don’t seem to have enough oil on them every morning. 

Most days I then go back to sleep for at least an hour, and then I really start my day.  My smart humorous quips (my interpretation) come out of my mouth from the moment I get up.  They should, I spend most of the night trying to think of them.

Of course I have several items in my bedroom that help me keep my sense of being and my sense of humor.  One of the funniest things that make me laugh every time I look at it is a chia head box with my nephews face glued on it.  Like most chia heads, this was a Christmas present from him and his wife on our last trip to Dayton for Christmas. 

When we arrived at my sister’s I made some comment that my nephew’s hair looked like a chia head and he let me get away with it (his mother taught him never to hit an old guy using a walker.)  I didn’t let up on him at all that night.  The next day when they came back over he and his wife handed me a present.  When I opened it I started to laugh but most people did not know why.  Then I showed them the chia head with my nephews head shot glued on the box to make it look like the grass was growing out of his head.  They tell me I laughed forever, why not it was funny.  So now I see him every morning and that brings a smile to my face.

I also have a family tree complete with pictures of my family over more generations than I can figure out.  I look at this every day as a reminder that the male Emery’s live a long time so I still have some time to go. My sister keeps watering the family tree and has found more branches than I knew were around.  She even found all kinds of pictures, many of them were as far back as the 1800’s.  

The one photo that reminds me of what to expect is the baby picture of me.  This a reminder that I came into this world bald so I may as well get used to the fact I’ll go out that way.

When I was younger managing printing companies I used this happy attitude to my advantage. When I showed up on the job with a new company I walked in and greeted everyone with various positive statements.  I also reminded them that this was going to be a great day. 

At first they looked at me like I was crazy.  It wasn’t long before many of them came in with the same positive attitude – it was catchy.

Needless to say I am human and don’t always stay positive.  In fact, on press day, you can hear stories of someone who would remind you of Attila the Hun – they seem to be looking at me when they tell the stories.  But even through all this, I try to remember a statement attributed to Abraham Lincoln – “You are only as happy as you want to be.”  Even our forefathers knew that happiness is a pursuit.  And I intend to pursue it until my last breath which I hope is from laughter. 

No matter what happens I know that each morning I will always have a reminder that I still have a lot of time left and a smile is a great way to start the day.