“When you’re smiling….keep on smiling; The whole world smiles with you. And when you’re laughing….keep on laughing, the sun comes shining through.”
~ Louis Armstrong
I sat for quite a while, basking in the beautiful warm glow of this morning’s sun rise. I didn’t get a very good night’s sleep last night … The wind’s switched around, which for whatever reason, brings mosquitoes, and they were bugging me galore. I’ll admit, I woke up groggy and crabby…
But the above song was in my head. How can one remain crabby when you are singing that ?!? Change your thoughts, change your day!
I don’t recall ever hearing this song by Louis Armstrong before last night. And I wish to thank an FB friend from home – Don Hanna – for making an awesome movie recommendation on Netflix, which we watched last evening.
It’s called “Holes in My Shoes: The Jack Beers Story”. I hope you’ll check it out …
It starts with 94 year old Jack Beers, singing this Louis Armstrong song from the top of the Empire State Building, which he helped build, and reminiscing about something his father always said …
I don’t care what you do in life. But if you are going to sweep floors, be the best floor sweeper. No matter what it is, just be the best.
His story portrays a man deeply committed to life …. An incredible rags to riches story. A man of mythical proportions. As Spencer said, the word that comes to mind is vigorous …
In the words of the film’s director, “Certainly, the film will help Jack live forever. What can I say, life brings us treasures and we must seize them. We must feel we’re worthy of good relationships, worthy of good experiences, worthy of great opportunities in all areas of life. This is what Jack taught me. We’re all worth it.”
This man made the best out of every twist and turn that life threw at him. His life unfolds like a real living “Forrest Gump”, and is a powerful reminder to me of Steve Job’s speech at Standford on Connecting the Dots:
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something: your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well worn path.”
After his wife’s passing, Jack was thrown into a deep depression, and wrote a short Discourse on Life, which he submitted to the Greenwich Times. Powerful stuff ….
———–
Dear Editor (Greenwich Times);
I’m 88 years old and I’ve lived in Greenwich for 45 years. A few months ago, my wife Bertha left this great veil of tears and I was grief stricken. I was surprised how suicidal one can become when you lose a loved one.
When I was mourning my wife’s departure, I was thinking and asking myself many questions.
What is it all about? What is the meaning of our lives? What is the real purpose of our struggle and spiritual hunger? Our victories and achievements? Our sacrifices and suffering? What are we living for? What are we after?
I believe you’ll discover, as I did, that love is what it’s all about. The love of God and man, and when you have found out what it’s all about, you’ll know that the object of life is not to be smart but wise, not to be rich, but generous, not to be a racist or bigot but tolerant, not to be powerful but loving, not to serve yourself but to serve humanity, with courage and charity.
Shalom,
Jack Beers
————-
So I leave you with Jack’s opening song, Louis Armstrong’s song …. And I hope their jingle gets your day off to a great start too, as it did mine. ♥
When you’re smiling….keep on smiling
The whole world smiles with you
And when you’re laughing….keep on laughing
The sun comes shining through
But when you’re crying…. you bring on the rain
So stop your sighing….be happy again
Cause when you’re smiling….keep on smiling
The whole world smiles with you
:))
