Choosing to Be Happy
by Melody Tan | 13 November 2024 |
There’s a lot happening in the world right now that isn’t right. Russia. Ukraine. Israel. Palestine. Lebanon. Cost of living. (To name a few.)
I first started writing about parenting issues back around 2016 when I, well, gave birth to my qualifications. While I only had a baby then, the new job I started required me to write about parenting tips related to children of all ages.
One of the topics I researched was how to talk to children about terrorism attacks. It was such a real worry back then. In the years leading up to 2016, we seemed to be on an ever-increasing trajectory to a full-scale catastrophe. These were acts of terrorism not in conflict areas, but close to home—where it’s meant to be “safe.”
Christchurch, Sydney, Brussels, Paris, Utoya, London, Bali, New York City.
Just some of the many tragic events that embedded themselves into the memories of all who lived through them, whether we were there or not.
We became familiar with names such as Al-Qa’ida, Boko Haram, Hamas, Islamic State.
When I wrote the terrorism article, I knew it was a relevant piece for parents at that time. However, I was also convinced I was equipping myself for something that I’d need to discuss with my son in a few years.
It seems a little strange to now think the terrorism article is somewhat obsolete. It’s not that terrorist attacks no longer happen, and it’s not as if our governments have let their guards down. Go through airport security and you’ll realize that we are still at a heightened state of vigilance.
Yet, in the past few years, terrorism isn’t an “it” word anymore. The words in our children’s vernacular instead include pandemic, social media, Putin, and Middle East. Terrorism doesn’t even rate as a concern anymore. At least not the way we thought of it almost 10 years back.
What we need to discuss with our children, what issues we need to address, how we approach the situation, those are different depending on the time and age in which we live. However, even though the specific subject or trigger may not be the same, the feelings of worry, fear, and concern are.
No matter how many years have passed, we will still need to reassure our children that they are safe, despite of what is going on in the world. There will always be something wrong with the world to frighten them, to overwhelm them.
I had a conversation with a friend recently. She was looking at the state of the world and realizing things were not getting any better—to her, they were in fact getting worse. She was feeling dejected and depressed as she discovered the hopelessness of it all.
While I empathized with how she felt, it was also no really big surprise. The pessimistic point-of-view is that the world will never get better. We Seventh-day Adventists probably know it better than most, with our obsessive talk about end-time events.
So does this mean we just let the world rot away in its wickedness to hasten the return of Jesus Christ? I sure hope not.
In the same conversation with my friend, we talked about how we can choose to be happy. It’s a phrase I use often with my son, during his glass-half-empty, it’s-not-fair moments.
The world may not ever improve, but we can still choose to be happy. Our actions may indeed not have any real impact, but we can still choose to be happy.
This choice to be happy isn’t the same as poking your head into the sand and smiling underground. It’s also not about walking around thinking about sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns, blithely unaware of what’s happening around us. We still need to do something. Things that may never have a long-term effect on changing the world for the better but do have a positive short-term impact on the people around us.
We act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly not because we will eventually reach a state of utopia here on earth. The world will have a larger number of wars and rumors of wars, famines, and earthquakes. Such is the result of the actions of our first parents.
But still, we can choose to be happy. We can choose to look into the eyes of our loved ones and smile. We can choose to do things that fill their hearts with joy. We can choose to help our neighbors. We can choose to treat people with kindness. We can choose to advocate for those in less favorable circumstances than us. We can choose to show our children the beauty of this world, to help them better choose to be happy themselves. We can still choose to right the wrongs we see.
I know this is easy for me to say. I am a healthy individual who lives in Australia, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, with no real threat of government instability, civil (or international) unrest, or discrimination. I don’t know how easy it is to choose to be happy if you have to live in a constant state of worry, for your life and that of your loved ones. I don’t know if I will or can choose to be happy should circumstances change.
Perhaps this is where our hope in Jesus comes in. To know that this is but a temporary world. We try to make the best of it where we can, but it will never be perfect. Things will get worse, but for that, we have the Second Coming to look forward to.
Melody Tan is a freelance writer, content creator, and editor for both print and digital. She is currently the project leader of Mums At The Table, a multimedia initiative aimed at supporting mothers in their parenting journey, through education and community. She and her husband live in Sydney, Australia, with their son.
