Jun.23.2009 at 1:59 pm | joshua
live happy
tam summed it up pretty well in her post the other day… there is a lot of bad juju flying around. lots of bad things happening to good people. whether or not there actually IS a lot of bad things happening, or if we’re just more aware of the bad things, is a completely different discussion than i wish to get into. regardless, i believe that we shape our world with how we live. i got a DM (twitter direct message for those of you not in the twitter-know) from my photography mentor today, challenging me to tweet positive for a week, and as i started thinking more and more about the implications of that, i thought hey, why not involve everyone on this?
that’s why today, i am proposing live happy week. one complete week of positivity. here are the rules:
- no sarcastic, negative, cynical, or otherwise mean posts on any of our social media sites. this includes talking negatively about celebrities, our elected officials, or anyone/anything else.
- if someone, someplace or something irks you, do what Jesus himself commanded and do your best to turn the other cheek. respond to negativity with positivity, in the long run that’s the best way to get back at people anyway… mwahahaha. (i kid)
- send at least one encouraging note to someone each day of live happy week. it can be a tweet, a wall post, a hand written note, a blog comment… whatever. just something to let someone know that you care and you think they’re pretty swell.
- call each other out, hold each other accountable. if you see someone falling a bit into the negative zone, send them a little (private) note and remind them what week it is.
- pray for each other (if you’re the praying type) without agenda.
i am well aware that this is probably how we should act all the time. however, for now i think it’s enough to ask for just one week of it from all of you. and please know that i am not so delusional to think that we don’t all have bad days, i’m simply proposing we keep our online persona’s positive for the week. each of us (hopefully) have people we can call, private message, or speak face-to-face with when we get really pissed off or upset. additionally, i am not saying we should be anything other than authentic, if something bad is happening in your life and you need some prayer there is nothing negative about asking for some. this is more aimed at the constant negativity we all sling towards things/people/places in our life, even our laundry piles (tam… haha).
it’s based on the simple idea that just like creativity begets creativity, happiness begets happiness. what would happen if we all just acted a little happier? would we feed off that happiness, and make our own lives a little happier? for a week, i’m willing to find out.
if you’re in, respond on your twitter, your facebook, blog, whatever… just say once (really, we don’t need to flood this, haha) “i’m in for #livehappy week!”. that way we all know who’s in. you certainly don’t need to link back to this post, feel free to copy it word for word if you want and put it on your own blog/facebook/whatever. i could care less about ownership of this.
dude. I don’t know if I’ll make it right now. Drew just left for a month of ministry away from me. I think I love him too much to be super happy. And I’m ok with that. Ecclesiastes says it’s ok to have a season of mourning. Hi mourning.
[...] how about you? who’s in? [...]
I like the praying for each other part.
Not so sure I like the forced happiness part.
But I’ll try.
russ – it’s not about forcing happiness… it’s more about controlling the negativity in the online atmosphere. if you’re pissed off at someone, all i’m saying is don’t tweet about it.
mandy – that’s rough. i can understand the issue with that.
i DESPERATELY need to be in. when is the official start? :)
right now :-)
this is huge for me right now. i can be such the cynic. i can be reactionary to a big fault. im not gonna fake it – but i will try to stop and think about why im responding the way i am and make alterations from there. theres always plenty to be sad or pissy about it. thats almost the easy part these days. the hard part, is goin against the grain, especially when you dont feel like it.
i HAVE to do this.
Brilliant! I’m in!
Mandy – being seperated from spouses is so hard. I’ve been there…actually I’m still sort of there. I’ll be praying for you.
Ok. I’m in. And you all know that sarcasm is my nature…so feel free to call me out if I slip.
I’m in!
oh, then i’ve failed already. can i have a do-over?
I’m in foo! And I mean that in the nicest way possible. :)
Love it! Sure, we should do this all the time, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need to make the effort sometimes :)
I’m in. Working on the negativity as I type.
Im in!
I’m all over #livehappy week like a fat kid on chocobacon
Mmmm – chocobacon…
you're so easily distracted. ;-)
You can live a happy life every day because they have something to rejoice in this world!
[...] Twitter or on Facebook. Blogging buddy, Joshua White, had a nifty idea and I’m on board. You can read about it HERE and then be part of Live Happy week with us. Great idea….I’m POSITIVE of [...]
So this is what it’s come to, huh? Well that’s just swell. And can I get a Halleluah on the timing of it all…2 days before my 3-day commetment to oversee the kiddie rides at our town’s Family Funfest?! I have personally boycotted this annual event because I fail the see the community bonding experience advertised when folks let their kids run wild (and penniless!) while the parent RUN for the beer tent! This year, however, I felt a direct prompting from my Lord to be part of the solution and perhaps shine a positive (Oh, shut up! Oops…did the week start yet?) light on an otherwise dark event. And why is this a challenge for me, you ask? Ahem, well…I’m not a parent so officially I cannot beat the children into submission. I wonder if temporary insanity could be used as a defense? But I digress…
Oh, and did I mention that I sprained my sacroiliac and am undergoing painful therapy by a doctor who seems to enjoy the infliction? I kid, I kid. My chiropractor is an absolute angel. I use angel specifically because he is also a devout atheist. Never have I met such a kind and compassionate individual who doesn’t allow the Lord in his heart. It intrigues me to know end and those of you who know me will not be the least bit surprised to learn that I DO manage to lead the conversation around to Jesus at some point during every session. He, however, usually steers clear to mocking me. Last time around he mentioned that my sprained sacroliac is yet another thing I have in common with Barney Rubble. Yes. Well…
So count me in on this freakin’ frackin’ Positivepalooza. And if by next week you can’t tap my neck and see a literal rainbow flowing out of it, then by all means enjoy yourself at my wake! I’ve requested it be a dry (as in non-alcoholic) reception, but fear not, as I’ve hired @liteNup (Ken Davis) to conduct my eulogy and @chefjeff to cater. And God-willing, live entertainment to be performed by Third Day.
Terry <
(yes, I appreciate the irony of the fish, since I'm sure to find myself up the proverbial river without that crutial paddle…)
Terry, yes, I read it :-).
Oh, by the way, you're one amazingly awesome person!!
I’ll give it a go… and may re-post the idea. Not online much this week tho with family in town (may make it easier – Ha!)
[...] #livehappy ended today. how’d it go for you? seriously, leave a comment and let me know, i’m [...]
[...] Twitter or on Facebook. Blogging buddy, Joshua White, had a nifty idea and I’m on board. You can read about it HERE and then be part of Live Happy week with us. Great idea….I’m POSITIVE of [...]