Can you teach a person how to be happy?

I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think so.

At least it doesn’t seem like the right word or activity.

But there’s something that has become very clear to me:

You can be with a person and let them feel it by bringing it to the table.

Show it, expose it, and be the shining example.

You can be happy with them, and they can pick up the vibe because we’re inherently created for that.

It’s in us, and it can’t be removed.

Making it happen is like telling a really, REALLY good joke to a person who’s convinced they’ve lost their sense of humor.

All they need is one liberating laugh.

Ha!

It will instantly show them that their capacity to enjoy a funny thing was never lost, that THEY were never lost.

They will remember, they will know.

Not because you promise them it will happen.

Not because you tell them to keep working on it with clever techniques.

Not because science tells us we can do it.

You simply assisted them in having the experience.

And that’s more than enough.

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(Photo by @marchuri, for Unsplash)