Smile if you love freedom
There's a catchy song the Christian pop-rock band Newsboys did early in their career, called "Shine."
Shine ... make 'em wonder whatcha got
Make 'em wish that they were not
On the outside looking bored ...
Their idea was to let the love of God shine through, because people will wonder what's up with you and may just end up loving God, too. It's a thought that transfers well to lovers of liberty, methinks.
Michael Jarrell has some intriguing thoughts after reading about Sunni Maravillosa's recent bout with happiness. "Bout" is the right word, because in many ways she had to fight to get happy: As Michael notes, "What struck me most was that she had to take some very difficult decisions to get happy. It wasn't just something she had managed to stumble across or have randomly occur."
That insight leads to many more - go ahead and read it here. I'll wait. Tum de dum, tum de dum ...
See what I mean? Hey, it's easy to be grumpy and unhappy and outraged by the liberty-crushing instincts of the herd and the big bosses. Getting happy and staying happy takes work, but the pursuit of happiness is an unalienable right and well worth exercising. Not only that, but if the love of liberty shines through, more and more people will "wonder whatcha got."
"Those who wish to further the cause of freedom and liberty must work hard to find their 'happy place' and work harder still to stay there if they wish to win," says Michael. "As we well know, happy people are much more productive than those beaten down by the blues. And it's a lot easier to make converts if you're smiling ..."
Here's one thought along that way: The government cannot control your happiness. Literature and real life abound with examples of government controllers frustrated and infuriated by people who laugh, sing and enjoy life in the face of efforts to make them miserable. It drives them cuckoo, and, more important, it denies them their power.
This is not to say "put up the blinders and ignore the tyrannical bastards." Just remember that when you are angry, despairing and discouraged by the attacks on liberty, you are letting the tyrannical bastards control you. It's like fuming all day at some idiot who nearly caused an accident on the highway, a crash that would have taken you with him - you just let some idiot ruin your day.
No, this is not "Don't worry, be happy." This is "smile if you love your freedom." Exercise your liberty as best as you can, and enjoy yourself doing it. Find what makes you happy and do it more often. Share that happiness with those around you. Tyrants can't thrive when their subjects aren't afraid and cowering.
Shine ... make 'em wonder whatcha got
Make 'em wish that they were not
On the outside looking bored ...
Their idea was to let the love of God shine through, because people will wonder what's up with you and may just end up loving God, too. It's a thought that transfers well to lovers of liberty, methinks.
Michael Jarrell has some intriguing thoughts after reading about Sunni Maravillosa's recent bout with happiness. "Bout" is the right word, because in many ways she had to fight to get happy: As Michael notes, "What struck me most was that she had to take some very difficult decisions to get happy. It wasn't just something she had managed to stumble across or have randomly occur."
That insight leads to many more - go ahead and read it here. I'll wait. Tum de dum, tum de dum ...
See what I mean? Hey, it's easy to be grumpy and unhappy and outraged by the liberty-crushing instincts of the herd and the big bosses. Getting happy and staying happy takes work, but the pursuit of happiness is an unalienable right and well worth exercising. Not only that, but if the love of liberty shines through, more and more people will "wonder whatcha got."
"Those who wish to further the cause of freedom and liberty must work hard to find their 'happy place' and work harder still to stay there if they wish to win," says Michael. "As we well know, happy people are much more productive than those beaten down by the blues. And it's a lot easier to make converts if you're smiling ..."
Here's one thought along that way: The government cannot control your happiness. Literature and real life abound with examples of government controllers frustrated and infuriated by people who laugh, sing and enjoy life in the face of efforts to make them miserable. It drives them cuckoo, and, more important, it denies them their power.
This is not to say "put up the blinders and ignore the tyrannical bastards." Just remember that when you are angry, despairing and discouraged by the attacks on liberty, you are letting the tyrannical bastards control you. It's like fuming all day at some idiot who nearly caused an accident on the highway, a crash that would have taken you with him - you just let some idiot ruin your day.
No, this is not "Don't worry, be happy." This is "smile if you love your freedom." Exercise your liberty as best as you can, and enjoy yourself doing it. Find what makes you happy and do it more often. Share that happiness with those around you. Tyrants can't thrive when their subjects aren't afraid and cowering.
posted by B.W. Richardson at
9:26 AM
2 Comments:
B.W., thank you for both your post, and pointing toward Micahel Jarrell's post.
exercise your liberty as best as you can, and enjoy yourself doing it. Find what makes you happy and do it more often. Share that happiness with those around you.
These words emulate what I'd like to see unfold in my lfe during 2007.
Happy New Year.
B.W., it is fantastic to see so many freedom bloggers tossing out the concept of clear-headed, conscious happiness lately!
I've seen your blog title many times on other folks' blogrolls...now it's time (past time!) to add it to my own. Which I'm logging in to do right now.
Your post reminds me of one I wrote a while back. And what fun it was to write it, too! To get deeply into that mindset, really into it, makes you feel like you can handle anything they throw at you.
And I wonder if, when you choose to laugh in their faces and leave them speechless, you might also be opening your own mind to a level of thinking and functioning - even a certain panache as regards what the hell to do next, once the shock wears off their faces - that's normally beyond your ken.
Dang, now you've got me going. Maybe I can get something good written myself on the strength of this line of thought.
Thanks for the great reads.
Cheers,
TJ
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