How to Make Anyone Happy

     

TONI ASKS, "SHARE YOUR FOOL-PROOF WAYS TO MAKE OTHERS HAPPY."

I don't think I have a 'fool-proof' way to make other people happy.  What makes one person happy may not work for another person.

I remember in junior high school, riding home one day with a friend of mine when she found out her grandfather had passed away.  She cried the rest of the way home.  I was a little at loose ends.  Only one of my grandparents was still alive.  The other grandfather had passed away before I was born.  I had only seen each of my grandmothers one time.  We talked for a while, and we played some kind of board game.  I tried to be sensitive to her feelings.  I think it helped her; she outright laughed at one point.  It did not 'make everything better', but maybe it provided some distraction.

I would try to find out what made a person happy and then help them get it.  Sometimes I can be direct and just ask.  Other times I have to ask around that question - like if I'm visiting someone in the hospital.  If it is someone I know well, I may try to direct the conversation towards a happier time, or something I know they enjoy.

If it is someone I do not know well, and there appeared to be a problem, I would ask them if there was any way I could help them.  That is better psychologically, I think, than asking, "What is wrong?"  I was delivering pizzas once (in Salt Lake City), and while returning to my car, a woman went quickly by, crying.  I asked her if she needed a ride somewhere.  She stopped and looked at me, like she was just then noticing my presence.  She continued on, walking slower.  I never found out why she was upset.  Did it help her to know that someone noticed and cared?  I hope so.

Can you share something you do that brings joy to the lives of others?  (I know that would make me happy!)

Have a GREAT weekend!