You Got A Right To Sing The Blues

As a life coach, I’ve been privileged to hear the life stories of a lot of people, and I can tell you, without hesitation, the truism rings true. Into every life, a little rain must fall.

Has it rained harder on some of us than others? Yes, indeed, but nobody totally escapes the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Everyone endures his or her fair share of hard knocks.

Billie Holiday sang a song about it … I’ve got a right to sing the blues.

As I was listening to that song recently, I thought to myself, yeah, we all have a right to sing the blues.

I get it. You’ve been hurt, disappointed, mistreated, even abused, and you damn well want to tell the world about it.

But, as a life coach dedicated to helping people live joyful, fulfilled lives, my advice is simple. If you want to be happy, don’t exercise that right!

Blow off some steam? Sure. That’s different.

Just don’t grind away your days complaining about the lousy cards you were dealt.

Don’t think about it. Don’t talk about it, and don’t make it the “hook” to the song of your life. You know, like … If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all.”

Instead, do your best to master the art of letting go and moving on.

Learn to live. Learn to love. Learn to let go.

Don’t spend any of your precious time learning to sing the blues.

Here’s the thing. Happy isn’t the result of lady luck smiling on you … of everything falling nicely into place.

That fact was never more clearly illustrated to me than during our time in Mexico this July.

I coach during the morning and evening hours when I’m there and often head to the beach during the middle of the day.

There’s a woman on staff at the Omni resort on the beach who’s always happy, always smiling.

We smile at each other. She speaks to me in Spanish. I hardly understand a word. I speak to her in English or Spanglish … and sometimes we use our phones to translate.

But we communicate. It’s remarkable how far a smile, hand gestures, and a couple of key words can go.

Anyway, she works hard, cleaning the bathrooms, sweeping around the walkways, raking the beach, stacking lounge chairs, etc. It’s mostly hot, physically demanding work.

She makes something like $6 a DAY… and she ALWAYS has a smile on her face.

Heli and I are friends now. We smile and hug each other and laugh and take pictures. She made me a woven bracelet. So sweet.

On our next to last day there, she shows me pictures of her five kids and where she lives. I feel honored.

It’s hard for many of us with so much material abundance to imagine that someone could be content working so hard for almost nothing. But she has a good life, because she’s chosen to be happy … and those five beautiful kids bring her plenty of joy.

If I ever find myself thinking I’m enduring some hardship, I think of her.

I think of her and I shut up the chatter. I stop singing the blues

I think of her and I smile.

Love,

Denise

P.S. And if you think the Mexican sun doesn’t turn my hair blonde and wild, think again!

Best Wishes,

Denise