May 21, 2025

Pleasantly Happy - Ep. 403

4 minutes

The importance of being Pleasant is not to be dismissed,

You may think it means being a pushover, but I disagree,

It can sometimes take far more strength than just making a fist,

Because it requires you to have empathy to a significant degree.

[full text below]

Ep. 403 - Pleasantly Happy

We begin as always

with the Happy Creed.

We believe in Happy,

in Balance and Growth,

of being Mindful and Grateful,

Compassionate and Understanding.

Yowza

Haha

My Happy Friends!

The importance of being Pleasant is not to be dismissed,

You may think it means being a pushover, but I disagree,

It can sometimes take far more strength than just making a fist,

Because it requires you to have empathy to a significant degree.

I encounter people in bad moods on a regular basis,

And I sometimes want to tell them to go take a flying leap,

But that just pollutes the waters of my mental oasis,

Resulting in nothing more than a psychological garbage heap.

But being Pleasant, on the other hand, can sometimes work wonders,

Once they realize I'm unflappable, they can stop pushing quite so hard,

They might even apologize for their attitude and their blunders,

And then I get to be the bigger person and someone they can’t disregard.

I grew up on a street that provided access to the cemetery in my town,

They called the street Pleasant to make it seem nice and quiet,

I imagine a name like Cemetery Lane wouldn’t have had the same renown,

And if it was called Death Road, the town parade might’ve turned into a riot.

But Pleasant Street wasn’t always peaceful, there were fights, funerals and speeding cars,

We lost more than one beloved housepet over the years to drivers not paying attention,

And there were dog attacks, rivalries and acts of bullying that left lasting scars,

As well as forms of cruelty beyond levels of above-average comprehension.

So I learned to be tough because in my house you needed a thick skin,

And yet I didn’t want to grow up to be cold, bitter, angry, hateful or afraid,

So I left Pleasant Street, while still carrying some of those feelings deep within,

And ridding myself of that pain has been something of a lifelong crusade.

Who else but such a one as that would do a weekly podcast about Balance and Growth,

Trying to come to terms with the unpleasantness that can sometimes bubble forth,

But I don’t just want to pretend to be Pleasant, which can come off as fake and forced both,

I try to find real reasons to actually feel and be Pleasant letting Happy be my True North.

Used to be that behind my smiling mask was a face of pure vengeance and hot fury,

I couldn’t fight all the Mean People at once, so I sat brooding, plotting their eventual demise,

Someday, I vowed, when least they expected it, I would be their executioner, judge and jury,

And then I’d laugh, and bury them so deep that no one would ever catch wise.

But the further I got from Pleasant Street, the more I could let those bad old feelings go,

And as I did I realized that underneath all that darkness there was light,

I remembered the days long before bullies ever came into my life and brought me low,

Back when people arguing who could claim to be my best friend was the only fight.

I was Pleasant and Happy, and what I once was, I was sure I could be again,

I just had to strip away all the old bad habits, aggression and grudges I was holding on to,

Not for anyone else, but for myself, I needed to decide there and then

That I would aim for Balance and Growth in all that I say and do.

It took me a minute, and it’s not smooth sailing always even now,

I’ve had to suffer through heartbreak and tragedy, near death experiences and loss,

But even when I get stressed I still find causes to smile and you want to know how?

I remember that Happy comes from within, and knowing that makes me my own boss.

Haha

Yowza

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By Geoffrey Bennett Ulrich

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