Choose Happiness

There's no recipe...

 

My good friend Chris pictured above, (such a good lookin' fellow when out of his sweat pants and Lucky Beer T-shirt)  had a big impact on my life through the simple and somewhat contemptible mechanism known as What's App. In his tag line he said simply:

"Happiness is a choice -- not a result".

And while social media assaults us daily with status updates from acquaintances with similarly wise words invariably posted over a waterfall or somesuch image of natural splendor, this one actually resonated with me. And that is mostly because Chris and his new bride model that adage.You'll note in the photo above Chris is happy & smiling both before taking Ruth's hand and immediately after. Solid proof if you ask me. I can attest to the fact that he was stone cold sober at the time :)

Just to take the idea of choice a step further -- I find that I can sometimes get into a spiral of thinking that is as much a waste of time as it is destructive. It hasn't been until my later life that I have learned to replace "why is everything going wrong" with "how lucky am I?" I think Chris may have handed me the secret to a happy life - but that's just my take...and there's no recipe. I am forever in his debt and genuinely happy for the happy couple.

Hey CB -- what took you so long I asked?

I was fortunate to attend the wedding of another friend who took the hand of a man to become life partners. Chrystabel looked every part the blushing bride in a fantastic gown amidst the smiles of friends and family. I am honored to have been both a witness and a cheerleader for this particular event. She and I worked together for about 6 months -- and kicked a serious amount of ass in that time. What a lucky man Sam is to have found and married this amazing woman. I wish them every success imaginable.

When asked if I wanted my eggs Poached -- I said that I would prefer them legal..

It's my brother's joke actually and speaking of him - he'll turn 50 next week!!!!! My goodness!! I guess I can't call him my little brother anymore. I wish the old guy well no matter how he takes his eggs.

More seriously though;

Back to poaching - and I have to say that the more time I spend in central Africa -- the more aware I become of the pervasiveness of the activity. It is literally happening all the time and all around us. It's like the gold rush or Bit coin mining or any other lusty activity that steels people's hearts and trades integrity for the dreams of what they believe wealth and power can bring. They are fools and despicable ones at that. As we see more and more species at risk of extinction and little response from the international community -- it feels a bit hopeless.

Chris wrote the following article that has now been widely published and I encourage you to have a look as it speaks to the issue of corruption in trafficking of animal parts in an uncompromising manner. It's bold, courageous and forthright. ... like the man who wrote it. Well done Chris.

https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/the-appeal-acquittal-of-feisal-mohamed-ali-a-victory-for-rule-of-law-a-process-corrupted-or-both-commentary/

And from the BBC today an interesting new tool but one has to wonder if it can be helpful when dollars rule the day.

BBC Poaching Article

Thanks for reading ....Layno!!!