To be honest, I don’t know how people do it. For real, I genuinely do not know how some of these people do it day in and day out. It amazes me, leaves me speechless. Maybe I am being ignorant, maybe I am being conceited but I don’t think so. At least I am not trying to be. That’s the last thing I am trying to be right now. I can’t wrap my head around the idea of living a life not showered in happiness and drenched in fun. Being happy just came naturally for me. As a result of being joyful, a majority of my life has been spent having an immense amount of fun. An amount of fun that really cannot be measured. Fun that has resulted in great friends with lots of amazing memories.

My childhood consisted of bruises, scrapes, and neighborhood kids who were just trying to have a great time every afternoon. Going to school every day, then rushing off the bus, doing my homework, and finally being able to play. Being allowed to strap on those roller blades and grab my hockey stick and head to the streets. Boys, girls of all ages playing street hockey no matter the season. Or sledding in the winter, making jumps that are parents told us not to and staying out so long frostbite sets in. I remember trying to see how many hockey sticks I could ollie over. The scar on my elbow is still here till this day. It's a symbol of a childhood that was too good, with kids that were too fun. I will never forget those days, they are the reason I have this point of view on life.

Now into my college days, I still carry that happiness with me. I have not had the smoothest ride in college but it sure has been one to remember. I have had ups and downs, hospital trips, breakups, conference championships, and great friendships to make this experience an everlasting one. Through all this I can still look myself in the mirror everyday and realize I have true happiness. I do not need the nicest phone, the most expensive computer, or even a car. All I need is a few good friends with some sweet music. It is the simple things that get me through each day. It is that hot cup of coffee or that lady behind the Chick-fil-A register to ask me how I am doing. Or the best one of them all, if I can make someone smile and laugh. Being able to bring a peer enough joy to crack a smile or share a laugh with is the best feeling in the world.

Ever since I was young I realized I had this skill. I don’t know if it is a skill it’s or more of a hobby. I have this ability to make people laugh. I know that may sound egotistical and cocky but that's not why I do it. I don’t use it to build myself up, that’s the last thing I do, I do it because I want to bring other people up. I have this idea that people can only have so many bad days before they have had enough. Before they can’t handle one more terrible day. Maybe, that day at work where I bring a coworker coffee and make them laugh, maybe that was going to be their last day. Or at school, when I see a student walking with their head down coming out of class and I say hi and ask how they are doing and I get to see them smile. Maybe that was their last day. Their last before they could not handle work, school, or even life.

I know this sounds a little crazy but it's what I believe is true. A smile and laugh have the power to change people. Once I realized this, I realized the power I had. I take it as my duty to try to make people happy. To try to make people laugh because watching someone’s face light up with a smile and hear the sound of their laugh is the most fulfilling experience in the world. Laughter represents so much. So much more than what people take it for. Most people just take a laugh as an emotion that everyone has every day. But that is not true. Some people go days, weeks, and months without laughter.

One of the items on my bucket list is to teach someone how to love life. I don’t think this will be possible without teaching them how to laugh. Teaching them that smiling and laughing for no reason is 100 percent acceptable, it is actually encouraged. It’s what I do every day. I smile all the time because what else would I do? I guess I sound overly optimistic but it’s how I live my life. Just like the how the old saying goes, “it’s your life, live it how you please.” I choose every morning to be happy, to smile, to laugh no matter the circumstances. I have bad days but I also have good ones. If I’m having a bad one I try to change that, whatever it takes. We are not here for that long, so why waste my time being upset over temporary events. I am not that good at math to be honest, but to me it doesn’t add up. The only thing that adds up is a smile plus a laugh equals one hell of a life and I’m living proof of that solution.