Toast

Okay, so I missed an entire week. Um… sorry? Won’t happen again? I hope?

You know what? I’ve read a whole lot of food blogs and food writing and stuff, and yet I’ve never actually read a piece that mentions toast. What is it about burning bread that makes it taste so good? There was a show my little sister used to watch – I forget the name – that had a character who was forever obsessing about toast. But then again, there are a lot of common things that people just take entirely for granted anyways, so I’ll just add toast to the list and move on.

It’s really odd though, all the opportunities that people have every single day to be happy about something, and they don’t. Why is that? Are they afraid people will laugh at them or something because they’re happy about something small? I have a rule of thumb – if you have a choice about whether to be happy or not (and trust me, you almost always do), choose happiness. And it’s true, sometimes people laugh at me when I get excited about something mundane, like toast. But I’ve also discovered a little secret, which is best put by a quote that I found in a book called Furry Logic: Happy people are more likely to get what they want, which only makes them more happy.

Have you ever noticed that when you’re around a person who laughs easily, you do more things to make them laugh? Or that if you’re happy, the people around you are usually happier? It’s very odd, but happiness has a tendency to snowball. So if you’re willing to happy about, oh I don’t know, toast, then you’re also usually more willing to be happy about seeing a squirrel (just because there are a lot of them doesn’t mean they’re not cute), or being able to find your favorite pen (do you have a favorite pen? you should, it’s very satisfying.) or that it’s a Wednesday. What’s so great about Wednesday? I don’t know. It’s Wednesday. My favorite days of the week are Thursday and Saturday. Sorry, that was rather off-topic. But my point is that if you’re willing to be happy about one small thing, you’re usually willing to be happy about the next small thing, and the next, and the next, and the next… and eventually you’re just very happy in general.

Because honestly what’s the difference between a happy person and a sad person? It’s not that one person has a happy life and one person has a sad life. It’s their outlook on the life they have. I know plenty of people who’ve had gigantic tragedies in their lives and are still very cheerful people. I also know some people who’ve had very few trials or tragedies in their lives and yet they manage to do a wonderful impression of Eeyore – you know, that gloomy donkey from Winny the Pooh. And then there are people who’re the exact opposite – those who have faced tragedy and fallen into depression and those who live completely uneventful  lives and are very cheerful. Happiness isn’t just an emotion you feel every once in a while under special circumstances that make you happy. You choose to be happy. It’s a legitimate choice in nearly every circumstance that we encounter in our everyday lives. Of course, it helps to make choices that will put you in circumstances where it’s easier to be happy, but it’s still a choice regardless. And it really helps when you’re willing to be happy about simple things… like toast.

Viva la… pain brulee? Oui? Oui. …I never realized that there was no word for “toast” in French. How sad interesting.

We are still masters of our fate. We are still captains of our souls. – Winston Churchill

Bye-bye,

Mara