POO & HAPPINESS

The two are related, you will soon learn. And it’s not in some kinky German way either…

Consider how simple it is for children to experience joy. Take a moment and observe a child or try to think back to yourself when you were young. How happy did it make you when you got ice cream after dinner? Or when your mom said you were allowed to spend the night at your friend’s house? For me, it was without a doubt, the best thing I knew. I reacted by pulling a Tiger Wood’s fist pump - years before he trade marked it; I was first, thank you - accompanied by an 8 year old’s exaggerated “Yesssssss!” This intense happiness, which I would now compare to a drug-induced high, would sustain for at least the next hour as I packed my California Raisin sleeping bag, silly putty, and GirlTalk into my overnight bag. GirlTalk, for those of you unaware, is the board game of truth or dare where you’d either reveal the embarrassing fact of which Backstreet Boy you wanted to get to first base with, OR consequently have to freeze your own training bra in a glass of water while singing your favorite Disney song. It was a blast – trust me. No question, I went with Dare and “Akunamata”. It’ll be a hot day in Antarctica when I reveal to my friends about Kevin & I rendezvousing at dusk in a canoe.

As kids, the smallest of things were capable of bringing intense happiness to our lives. And the younger we were, the more easily it was to be overcome by happiness. One of my favorite examples of this is when I see a baby giggling uncontrollably from playing peek-a-boo with a strange looking character. Time after time, peek-a-boo continues to elicit hearty belly laughter from the baby. Sometimes they are so consumed with laughing they even forget to breathe! Honestly some babies are so stupid. Moments like this remind us that once upon a time, we were very easily capable of sliding quickly into heightened moments of happiness. When is the last time you played peek-a-boo with a 200lb, stinky breath, Captain Kangaroo looking, questionable character AND laughed? Did you laugh so much you forgot to breathe? If you did, then…wow! That is ridiculous because I just made that scenario up - and really?! So hard you forget to breathe?! Hmm, either you’re lying or you’re lying, because everyone knows Captain Kangaroo wannabes were extinct by 1992. ‘You ain’tz gotz to lie!’ But honestly, most of us wouldn’t laugh at all. Maybe we would a little, but no way would it yield the same amount of joy as it did for the baby.

This realization leads me to contemplate why with age it seems increasingly harder to achieve this heightened level of happiness? Why doesn’t spending an evening with my friends make me as equally as excited as it did when I was 8? Is this activity so regular it’s lost it’s spice? Hanging out with friends is still very enjoyable, and it doesn’t happen so often I’ve grown numb to it; then why don’t I respect this moment more?

As we grow older, we tend to dissect things so much we disrespect or completely forget the awesomeness of them.

In a study conducted at a prestigious educational institution you’ve undoubtedly heard of, adults who made “boom-boom” didn’t exude the same level of happiness following the accomplishment as their younger counterparts. But why? Wait…before you x out of this beautiful little window, and first hear me out. You and I are educated, and we once learned in biology about the hundreds of chemical reactions and processes are going on inside of us simultaneously that enable us to produce poo. So many things are going on inside of us to produce ‘boom boom’, that if you go back through your biology book and re-read everything that is going down, it’s really just short of a miracle. Especially considering the body does this without requiring us to think about any of it throughout the process. Okay – so we have a greater understanding that we’re able to perform this and yet we respect it less? Blasphemy!

I say rather than ignoring your next gold star deuce, respect it, be thankful for it. That’s right, be happy about your poo! High five your bathroom stall buddy – don’t even wash your hands – just celebrate! Just imagine, next time you’re in that public restroom, half sweating from the Mexican burrito you had following the half pot of coffee, respect that what is happening & get happy about it!

This week focus on regaining sight of the little things in life and uncover a shitload of happiness.