In Dedication to A Ray of Sunshine

Yesterday’s WordPress blog prompt was to talk about one of your best friends and what they’ve taught you. I knew I had to write about this when I immediately knew who I’d write about and what I’d write.

In junior high, I met B through a mutual friend, and we’ve been friends ever since. My last couple of years in high school, we became really close. Being friends with her has been an absolute blessing, and as she is currently far, far away, serving a mission for her church, I’ve started really thinking about how her friendship has affected me.

She is a walking example of something I think we all believe is impossible: B is always happy, always grateful, always glad.

It’s so easy to get caught in the minutia of life and become frustrated, bogged down, and unhappy. It’s easy to make mountains out of molehills. It’s easy to make the excuse of “I’m just having a bad day.” But B has taught me that those things don’t have to – and shouldn’t – stop you for being a light to those around you.

Every time I see B, she is in a cheerful mood. Even if she’s had the worst day ever, she can vent for five minutes about it and then put a smile on her face and put the whole thing in perspective. She is the kind of person who can laugh through tears, and who can find reasons to be happy where none seem obvious. She is able to see sunshine in the places that others cannot. She puts excitement into everything that she does, and her enthusiasm is contagious.

B has always been an amazing friend to me, even when she’s had her own tough times. She is never too short on time for an encouraging word or a funny story. Never artificially happy, she is always finding something to be grateful for.

Being friends with her has taught me that the impact of perpetually looking on the bright side is immeasurable. Happiness is always found somewhere, and the difference between those that are always happy and those are not is in how hard you look for it. There are times where it will seem nearly impossible to be happy. And sometimes, that’s true. But where happiness does not wish to grow, the seeds of optimism and gratitude lie.

I’m certainly far from following her example, but I’d like to try. Because one thing the world needs is not more things to be happy about, but for more people to make an active effort to be happy.

 

 

 

Other blog posts following the same prompt:

1. Friends | The Magic Black Book
2. You want to see best friends against the world? | From One Crazy Life To Another
3. Daily Prompt: BFFs | Journeyman
4. Voices | Momma Said There’d Be Days Like This
5. A Speck Of Green – Part 1(Looking for Dad) | The Jittery Goat
6. Kith and kin | Perspectives on life, universe and everything
7. Daily Prompt: BFFs | tnkerr-Writing Prompts and Practice
8. things to learn | y
9. Learning the lesson of love… Daily Prompt | alienorajt
10. DP Daily Prompt: BFFS | Sabethville
11. Daily Prompt – Lesson Learned: A Haiku; Tuesday, January 28, 2014 | LisaRosier.com
12. Daily Prompt: BFFs | Incidents of a Dysfunctional Spraffer
13. Daily Prompt: BFFs | laura-in-china
14. Daily Prompt: BFFs | Under the Monkey Tree
15. The lady with the plasters | Kate Murray
16. Friends Trust Each Other Prayers and Promises
17. Daily Prompt: BFFs | The Wandering Poet
18. Defy the Diet | Daily Prompt: BFFs | likereadingontrains
19. Seriously? | My Author-itis
20. Friends | trifectumblog
21. The one who spoke | dandelionsinwind
22. Learning from each other | Geek Ergo Sum
23. Those I Adore | Writing and Works
24. Mans best friend | From One Crazy Life To Another
25. A BFF Haiku | Lisa’s Kansa Muse
26. I’ll Be There For You (When the Rain Starts to Fall) | thanks for letting me autograph your cat
27. Special Purpose or Special Man | marjanitalarosa
28. The Strength of Family | A mom’s blog
29. Lessons Learned « One Crazy Mom
30. Get Back Up | Wanderlein
31. Because I knew you, I have been changed for good. | Amoeba Kat Musings
32. S. Thomas Summers: Writing with some Ink and a Hammer | Me and the Outlaw Jesse James
33. Daily prompt: BFFs | ferwam
34. Never Letting Go | Pretty ToThinkSo…
35. A Poem: A Bit of Friendly Advice | I Hope You’re Taking Notes
36. Smoke Flares Must Taste Delicious | Exploratorius | Photo Hack & Curious Wanderer
37. BFFs! | Eyes Through The Glass – A Blog About Asperger’s
38. My Best Sisfur… | Haiku By Ku
39. Daily Post: BFF aka A girl called Gigi | Willow Blackbird
40. Daily Prompt: BFFs | Wordz on a Page
41. Daily Prompt: BFFs | No Apologies
42. Daily Prompt: Let Your Hair Down! | birgerbird
43. Inspirational words from a friend | Processing the life
44. Friends You Can Trust | Flowers and Breezes
45. Alles Geben | I’m a Writer, Yes I Am
46. The Urban Family | londonlately
47. Ode to Spam | Farfetched Friends
48. BFF Lessons | The Nameless One
49. BFFs?? Sure! | LenzExperiments
50. Best Friends Forever | Eyes to Heart
51. Daily Prompt: BFFs | Chronicles of an Anglo Swiss
52. Thanking God for Others | meanderedwanderings
53. DP: Friends | As I See It
54. Beauty is transcendental | My Floating Musings
55. Daily Prompt: BFFs | Before it flickers away
56. Things I’ve Learned by Being a BFF and Having a BFF | The Gilded Lotus
57. Things You Can Learn From a Ledcat
58. An Ode to My Bestest | The Best Life
59. When a Polaroid Was Instant Gratification | Pairings :: Art + What Goes With It
60. Friends: I Am a Friend of God | The Christian Gazette
61. BFFs | Rima Hassan
62. Daily Prompt: BFFs | anniethinksabout
63. Telling it like it is | Emotional Fitness
64. Red: Heaven in Hell’s despaire | The Seminary of Praying Mantis
65. Daily Prompt: BFFs | A Room of One’s Own
66. Daily Prompt: BFFs | Tigglesworth
67. Daily Prompt: What My Best Friend Taught Me | readingwithafeather
68. Grace | Reinvention of Mama
69. Daily Prompt : BFFs / Friends | simplyvegetarian777
70. I shoulda got a MacBook Air! [Sheri #3] | Rob’s Surf Report
71. Daily Prompt: BFFs | Poetry
72. BFF World – Passionately Bored
73. Love thy bestie… | bagofbuttons
74. Life sends us Tests, Challenges and Temptations… for our Ego… | An Upturned Soul
75. Daily Prompt: BFFs | thoughts and entanglements
76. Of All The Many Lessons | Call Me Incorrigible
77. Daily Prompt: Being Friends! | All Things Cute and Beautiful
78. Friends: Daily Post | Destino
79. Lessons of Love | Tale of Two Tomatoes
80. Best Friends Forever | Willow’s Corner
81. The Video Game Club? | Nodus Tollens
82. Daily Prompt: BFFs | The honey sandwich symbiosis | theberningblog
83. Daily Prompt: BFFs | Holoholo Girls
84. My Best Butt | Lenora Howard
85. How to Beat Cancer Like it Stole Something « A Buick in the Land of Lexus
86. Describe myself?… I guess… This is it | sunny side dreamers
87. Day 28: Ode To A Playground | THE BLACK SPAGHETTI CHRONICLES
88. Friends | Scribbled Posts
89. BFF’s… A Message to Teens | The Abuse Expose’ with Secret Angel
90. Luna | 52 Miles per Month
91. My most important lesson I’ve learned from my wife | My Strong Medicine
92. Sometimes Nothing Equals Something | Overcoming Bloglessness
93. Daily Prompt: Friends | Occasional Stuff
94. BFFs 4-Ever & Ever ‘Till The End! | A.C. Melody
95. BFF’s, What Have They Done for You Lately? | 365 Days of Thank You
96. It’s Okay To Go A Little Crazy | The Dragon Weyr
97. Not one, but five #BFFs | Twenty-Four Problems
98. The Most Important Lesson | Blessed Zyra
99. Cohort of Awesome | VernetteOutLoud
100. Daily Prompt: BFFs…Sugar and Spice | heysugarsugar