Refresh Your Outlook

By: Kali Lamparelli
Posted In: Opinion

Recently, I have not welcomed my emotions. I have become silent and turned back into my shy, introverted self. I call it crawling inside of myself to protect the pain I find in my heart. I am the type of person who finds everything beautiful and cannot see the worthlessness in anyone or anything. Lately, I have not been able to find beauty or goodness in the world. A man who lives down the street in my small suburbia heaven, the place I come from, killed his wife and children. Why? There are no answers for the horror that happens in the world. Where has all the happiness gone and how can we get it back? Life does not have to be so serious.

Life is about growing up, in height, in age, in maturity levels on that eventual journey upward. Do not forget the essence of true happiness. We cannot forget the tiny treasures that bring us back to the joyful innocence of youth. We never have to lose our innocence, as long as we realize it is valuable to treasure the tiny elements of life. Life is lived in those first moments of awakening from a sound sleep, no matter how short, and opening our eyes to the gift of a new day. Happiness for some is in a walk on the cliff walk everyday to find fulfillment in losing oneself in the ocean view. For something so vast, why then, does it heal? Why doesn’t it bring loneliness? For me, it stops the swell of pain. Happiness is in a walk towards the sunset with a friend. The walk is with the type of friend who is a safe haven for the soul. It is important to have relationships that help the soul grow. We cannot forget the essence of our childhood, for if we do we miss what makes a heart healthy and happy.

Have you gone and played today? Do you remember what it is like to hold the sand in your hands and try to stop it from falling through your fingertips? Do you remember what it is like to laugh until it is hard to breathe? We forget that life needs laughter. What has taught us that life should be so serious? Why then do children seem to smile often? They know the secret of happiness. They know that in order to grow and be a bright part to the world that they need to laugh daily. Children are honest. Once we learn to put up our fortress walls, we forget the joy that comes in the truth. A friend asked me if I wanted to go to a movie. I said, NO. She laughed and said well, okay. I thought, and later said that I am honest. I did not feel a movie happening. I am a spontaneous girl who can never plan things; if I plan, I become anxious and seek control. I feel at ease in the unknown. Do you remember what it is like to pick up the crayon and color outside of the lines, who taught us to color in them anyway? Why is it that we are so afraid of letting go that we create fears that will sustain us and give us reason for not caring or loving people to the depths of who we are? I want to splash of the ocean against my face.