No amount of stress, pain, worry, or uncertainty can darken the world even a tiny bit while the laughter of my niece rings. I can say “Who’s your favorite uncle” a hundred times, and every time she’ll throw her little hands up and yell “Uncle Johnny!”
These fonts of pure joy, they are everywhere you look. Mostly we run from them because some part of us wants our pain. We don’t want it to evaporate in the face of a child’s giggle because somehow that will lessen our struggle, make it seem like we were upset over nothing.
It will lessen your struggle, because you were upset over nothing.
Look, problems are real. You’ve got to solve them. But you don’t need to feel anything you don’t want to feel. So go feed some ducks, watch a sunset, or tickle your niece until you’re both laughing so hard you can’t breathe. Then come back and solve the problems with a smile on your face.
The Opportunity Machine 