World Smile Day 3rd October 2014 - join in

One act of kindness to make one person smile

World Smile Day raises money for the Harvey Ball World Smile Foundation, a non-profit charitable trust that supports children's causes

Simple

Harvey Ball created the original smiley in 1963.  The image went on to become the most recognisable symbol of goodwill and cheer on the planet

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The first Friday in every October was chosen by Harvey Ball to be World Smile Day.  A day when everyone should try to be like the Smiley, a symbol that transcends politics, religion and geographical location.

Arts, science, compassion and exercise

Fill your life!

Smiling

Smiling is something you should do

For the people who know you

And for the strangers you don’t.

Smiling is all about being brave.

Suppose they leave you standing

With a mile on yours

But not a glimmer on theirs

Will you risk losing face

In a world that

Puts you in your place

Yes, the serious believe

That those who smile

Are the ones in need

How far from the truth

Can we be?

Everyone should watch this video. Don't hurry it, allow yourself time to listen

Australian comedian and poet Tim Minchin shares many of Mr Smile's ways to happiness

A Trip to Happiness

Travel is one of the ten ways to happiness.  Mr Smile has been doing quite a bit of this over the Summer and that is why he hasn't found time to write his blog (he apologises for this).

Just planning a trip, however small, can lift your spirits even if you don't end up going.

The journey can be as much fun as reaching the destination.  Take time to look out of the window on the way, even if it is dark.

The Journeyman

The crackle on the gravel

The rolling of the stone

Footprints on the shifting sand

Where the journeyman must roam.

Wishes on the water

Mind up in the mountains

The journeyman his only need

To taste the quenching fountain

Tramps across the countryside

To travel the unknown

He trusts the earth beneath his feet

The journeyman is home

To where his heart is

He who knows much more

Whose eyes are always fixed upon

The ever open door.

And from Goodreads:

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”

― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Blue days and bright days

It is perfectly normal to be blue sometimes, for the smile not to come readily to your face, to feel anti-social. But try to smile all the same and it WILL lift you a little at a time - science has even proven it!

I love the way Henry drew my smile

Some children recently heard some of my book and my stories.  They decided to do their own pictures of me and to write their own words.  These made me SMILE, I hope they make you smile too even if it is only a little smile because you are feeling blue.

"But first they went very sad. The people are happy. It was not about money it was about being nice."

The children worked very hard create these pictures and words and were very proud of them.

Everyone liked it when the people were nice

Ryan drew a picture of himself with me

My book is for adults AND children but the adults don't seem to want to draw any pictures!
Goodreads quote:

“Age does not make us childish, as some say; it finds us true children.”

― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Laugh at yourself

Keep things in perspective and learn to laugh at yourself more often

I never exaggerate, me

I remember one time in the garden

When me mate pushed me out of a tree

I swear it was high as a mountain

But I never exaggerate, me.

I remember one day at the seaside

A tsunami came out of the sea

Lucky that I’m good at surfin’

But I never exaggerate, me.

I remember one day at the sweetshop

They were giving out chocolates for free

I ate so much I was sick on the spot

But I never exaggerate, me.

Picture from "The Jenie Jazzles" (C) David J. Mason

I remember one day on the footie pitch

This tackle that took off me knee

They managed to sew it back on again

But I never exaggerate, me.

I remember one day in the playground

I found this strange looking key

Then I broke into school at the weekend

But I never exaggerate, me.

I remember one day in the classroom

I think it was quarter to three

A monster crept in and took me away

But I never exaggerate, me.

I remember one day I was out in the park

When my friend he was stung by a bee

His head swelled up to six times its size

But I never exaggerate, me. 

No I never, ever, ever exaggerate

Not in a billion years, me.

(C) David J. Mason "Smile"

Goodreads quote of the day for me:

“I laugh at myself.
I don't take myself completely seriously.
I think that's another quality that people

 have to hold on to... you have to laugh, 

especially at yourself.” - Madonna

Sit quietly and do very little

Find some time to do very little

Perhaps read a book - try poetry because you can dip in and out more easily

Lost in a Book

I was once completely lost in a book

Honest – the story was really that good

They sent out a search party

But they couldn’t find me

They sent out the army and navy

But they couldn’t see me

They sent out sniffer dogs

But they couldn’t smell me

And they listened very carefully

But they just couldn’t hear me.

I finished the book

And came out of the story

They were so pleased

For now they had found me.

And why not tell us

Where you were going?

But stories are like that

There’s no way of knowing.

(C) 2013 David J. Mason 

Or listen to some music - try classical music (you may recognise the theme in this piece)

And from Goodreads quotes:

“When you arise in the morning think of what

a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love ...”

― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

In times of great sadness find hope

The wonderful British actor Bob Hoskins has died at the age of 71 - a great loss.  His daughter has written a blog post "11 lessons from my Dad".  It is very moving and I thought that it would be good here on my Happy Blog even though it is a sad occasion.

Thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends:

“Only people who are capable of loving strongly can also suffer great sorrow, but this same necessity of loving serves to counteract their grief and heals them.”

― Leo Tolstoy

Money and happiness

A Handful of Happiness

World at my feet

Or resting in my lappy

Live in a mansion

With a butler chappy

But what don’t I have?

I don’t have happy.

I’ve millions myself

And a billionaire Pappy

Got a platinum bath

And a gold plate tappy

But what don’t I have?

I don’t have happy.

Look like a star

Dress real snappy

Folks they just love me

Life’s one long clappy

But what don’t I have?

I don’t have happy.

And now I’m getting older

I just want to swappy

I’d give up all the other apps

For a handful of happy.

And from Goodreads Quotes, a little ironic wit from both sides:

“If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to.”

― Dorothy Parker

“Money can't buy happiness, but it can make you awfully

 comfortable while you're being miserable.”

― Clare Boothe Luce

Funny Frenchmen with beach towels

Smiling and laughing are good for your health.  This comedy routine had me doing both.  Changing on the beach will never be the same again.

And a gallic touch from Goodreads Quotes:

“Laughter is sunshine, it chases winter from the human face.”

― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Plan a holiday but don't necessarily take one

I have just taken a lovely holiday in the sunshine and feel so much better.  I find that planning trips is very therapeutic even if I don't eventually take them.

Happy holidays to everyone

The Journeyman

The crackle on the gravel

The rolling of the stone

Footprints on the shifting sand

Where the journeyman must roam.

Wishes on the water

Mind up in the mountains

The journeyman his only need

To taste the quenching fountain

Tramps across the countryside

To travel the unknown

He trusts the earth beneath his feet

The journeyman is home

To where his heart is

He who knows much more

Whose eyes are always fixed upon
The ever open door.

Copyright David J. Mason 2012- Inspire to Write

Quote from Goodreads:

“...reality, however utopian, is something from which people feel the need of taking pretty frequent holidays....”

― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

Help children find happiness

Having read Leoarna's excellent post in her blog "not different but interesting", I felt this poem complemented her observations and feelings but hopefully there is a little light shining in the last verse.

We all need to help children find a way to their own happiness  This is what I try to do in my book "Ten Ways to Happiness"

- Mr Smile

Helping to make a better World

I’m no good at football

They’ll never pick me

Can’t run or jump or kick or throw

I’m no good at PE.

I’m no good at science

Don’t know a lot you know

I’ll never be a professor

And dress in a white coat.

I’m not good at literacy

Can’t write it down on paper

You know I’d really love to

But I’d never make an author.

I’m no good at DT

Can’t make things with these hands

Or think of what I want to build

No good at making plans.

And I’m no good at maths

Can’t add, subtract, divide

Can’t stop the numbers swimming

Before my very eyes.

I’m no good at anything

No I’m no good at all

I don’t know why I bother

Coming to this school.

But no – look you’re forgetting

None of these things matter

What really counts is how you

Make this world a little better.

(C) 2013 David J. Mason from "I know about the Staff Room"

Courtesy of Goodreads Quotes:
“The music of hope is everywhere, but to hear it, you need to ignore the muddy jangle of life's hassles.”― Christine M Knight, Life Song

Fear is ignorance of the world's lack of knowledge

Less 

Senseless people don’t make sense

Headless people don’t have heads

Shapeless people have no form

Harmless people wouldn’t harm

Thoughtless cannot think at all

Lifeless and your life is dull

Fearless folks can’t feel fear

Cheerless folks, well they can’t cheer

Cloudless and the sky is blue

Motionless, the wind won’t move.

Careless people do not care

Hairless people have no hair

Brainless people don’t have brains

Painless people don’t have pain

Timeless and you have no time

Mindless and you have no mind

Faceless folks they have no face

Tasteless folks they cannot taste

Weightless and you float around

Effortless above the ground.

More or less or less or more

Here is a less-on to us all.

(C) 2013 David J. Mason

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”

― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Courtesy of Goodreads Quotes

Find your own path

Capital Loss

Some people say

That in Great Britain

The road that

Leads to rack and ruin

Is strewn

With those

Who missed

The turning

For London

(C) 2011 David J. Mason

“If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.”

― Roald Dahl

Courtesy of Goodreads

Healthy and Wealthy

Healthy is what you get

From eating fresh fruit and vegetables

Pasta, rice and

Plain potatoes

Don’t spoon the sugar

Cut out the fat

Not too much caffeine

Not too much salt.

Wealthy is what you get

From eating

Everyone else’s

Helping

(C) 2014 David J. Mason 

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

Thanks, I’m happy

Thank-you is a thing of the past

Instead you must look

To the next on the list

This is the pointless

Pursuit of

Happiness

(C) 2013 David J. Mason 

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” ― Epicurus

Live in the moment, live every second...

Scene from a posh Party

- How do you do?

- It’s something innate

A will to carry on

No matter what

Through thick and thin

Rain or shine

Famine or feast

Good times and bad

- What do you do?

- I inhale and exhale

I walk and I talk

I eat and I drink

Sleep and think

And then I excrete

It makes life complete.

- Yes, yes but what do you do?

What’s your profession?

- Avoiding the day of my life’s cessation

(C) David J. Mason 1997 from  "Get a Life" ISBN 0 9521326 3 X

Make time just to sit and listen to music

Soul Music

The rhythm of the world

Is not the rhythm of the soul

The rhythm of the world is bang a-bang a-bang!

The soul’s just likes to flow.

The music of the world

Is not the music of the soul

The music of the world is very, very fast

The soul says slow man, slow.

The sound of the world

Is not the sound of the soul

The sound of the world is loud man, loud

The soul is sweet and low.

The words of the world

Are not the words of the soul

The words of the world say go man, go!

The soul’s say whoa man, whoa.

(C) 2013 David J. Mason 

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” ― Plato

BE HAPPY... Connect with your inner child

When I grow down

When I grow down

I want to be

More of a seedling

And less of a tree

Or at least

Find the seedling

Inside of me

(C) 2011 David J. Mason taken from the children's collection "Smile"

(W)Hole in the Heart

Hole in the Heart

There’s a hole in my heart

And I know it needs filling

With the spirit of life

And the spirit is willing.

There’s a whole in our hearts

And it is overflowing

With the spirit of life

And the spirit is growing.

(C) 2013 David J. Mason

Welcome to my blog

Hello I'm Mr Smile

I was born with a smile on my face - in fact it IS my face!
I like to bring happiness to the world.
I shall post lots of happy things to help you smile through your day.
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