Originally published here with permission of the author, me. And oh, by the way, laughter is contagious. Watch the hilarious video below.

It sounds counter-intuitive, doesn't it?

Unhappy? Smile! WTF? Are you serious?

Damn skippy!

We often think that smiling is the result of being happy. But it’s actually a two-way street.

People DO smile when they are happy.

But try this the next time you’re sad: SMILE!

Smiling can actually make you happier than you currently are. It’s true. Watch the video to see.

I tell my kids all the time when they’re in a bad mood: Smile.

They think I’m being a jerk, and sometimes I am.

But I learned this trick a LONG time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (in my teens – oh, so long ago).

I was a mostly happy kid but I did experience quite a bit of sadness at an early age.

My dad and my grandmother died within one month of each other, right around Christmas, when I was 13. Prior to that, my grandmother had suffered with kidney failure and 3x weekly jaunts to dialysis machines for 4 hours at a time.

Since I lived with my grandparents, I spent a lot of time with them at the hospital. Often, alone. It’s tough to hang out for 4 hours in a pickup truck in the hot sun while your grandfather reads every page of the daily newspaper.

So not only was I alone a lot, I wasn’t happy.

I’d get in “funks.” Still do.

And when I do, I smile.

In fact, I practice it.

I suggest you try it. Try it before you’re sad. Practice.

It really works.

The world would be a better place if we’d all smile more.

Less war. More abundance. I truly believe this.

Here's a scientific explanation of what I said above. Kind of. It's about laughter. But I view laughter to smile as video to image. Same ideas conveyed. Movement in one, not the other.

Make sense?

Tell me what you think in the Comments.

Just a quick note here on subscriptions to read stuff on the ‘net. Oh, and yes, the title – it's TWO CLICHES that are REAL.

I am a news and politics junky. I like doom scrolling through Substack. There are a host of writers I love.

But nearly all of them now have a subscription feature.

And I get it.

As a writer, I want to be paid for my work, too. So I completely understand.

But what perturbs me is the incessant reminders that I am not a paying subscriber. And Substack's subscription fees are murderous.

For example, if I paid for the 5 or 6 writers I really like, we're talking–at the very least–$40 per month. That's on top of all the other subscriptions I might have (like to WaPo and WSJ).

It adds up. FAST.

Can the publishing community come together to figure out how to “roll up” all these subs into one or two pieces at a “volume discount?”

I'd gladly pay $10 per month and get “all I can eat” on Substack. But not $40.

There's got to be a better way. Tell me your ideas in the Comments.

Back when I was a Republican (from birth til 2003), I remember loathing the Soviet Union while at the same time fearing MAD (Mutual Assured Destruction).

I generally don't hate anything so I refrain from using that word except for very specific occasions. But I had a real dislike of the USSR.

I feel like all of us did.

Their way of life, form of government, economic system, war mongering, etc. all lead to me not really giving a shit if their whole society blew up (not literally–I never wanted to see them nuked).

When 1989 rolled around, after Reagan said in 1987, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall” (meaning the wall between East and West Germany), and the wall literally was torn down, I was happy.

The Great Menace of the 20th century was dust.

NOTE: I NEVER disliked Russians. They are people just like us, except worse off. Standing in line all day for crumbs seemed then–and now–like a big fucking deal. In fact, I felt sorry for them.

For a land with such rich history and vast resources, the Soviet government oppressed its people for far too many years.

Not to mention the hell they went through during and after WWII.

I felt like ALL Republicans and many Democrats felt the same way I do. We didn't trust the Soviet government ever to do the right thing. They were the Evil Empire.

We didn't trust a Soviet leader as far as we could throw him, which wasn't far.

Nowadays, however, it seems that the Republican party in its entirety, just LOVES Russia. They love Putin. They trust the former Soviet Union leaders far more than they trust our traditional allies.

What happened?

Why is this?

If you know, hit the comments. This is the weirdest thing ever.

I was at a business conference this weekend. It was about investing in real estate. I have a client who wanted me to collect “B roll” for his social media content.

First things first. The event was over two days in Las Vegas. It was fun. I met a lot of very interesting people.

The content was alright. The food was outstanding. The host, Michael Zuber, was fantastic. The tech setup was impressive. The event location was perfect.

Now, when I say the “content was alright,” make no mistake: The folks there got what they paid for, and then some. They were INTO it. I am not a real estate investor (yet?), so the content didn't resonate with me.

That is not a slap.

I'm confident if Zuber took a poll, 99.99 percent of the folks in attendance loved the content.

Okay, I'm done belaboring that point.

Now, onto a few observations. One, really. And it is this: The room was split into Consumers and Producers.

What do I mean by this? There were a lot of people who actually owned real estate. They lived up to the title of the event, One Rental at a Time. Many owned dozens of properties. Some owned hundreds. Truly amazing.

They are the Producers.

Others, not so much. Many in the crown, especially the ones most vocal in the Q&A, didn't own anything, yet–some of them–had been “researching” for years. I suspect some have been in analysis paralysis for a decade or more.

They are Consumers. They consume information. And may never flip the switch to being a Producer.

And let's face it: The world NEEDS more Consumers than Producers. Not a knock, per se.

Some Consumers are alright with being where they are. They work a job, buy stuff, go home, and Nexflix & Chill.

But these folks–and I've seen this at every conference I've ever been to, spread across many industries–are Consumers Who Are Stuck.

They want more. They are not satisfied with their lot in life. They know they need to act, to Do, to Produce.

But they can't.

I don't have an answer for them, other than–to coin Nike's phrase–Just DO It!

That's what I did with my career/business. I just did it. Make the leap. Make the mistakes. Do the thing. As Zuber says, “Do the work.”

When you're paralyzed, you literally cannot move. That's what's going on here. These conference attendees travel from conference to conference. They hear the same things all the time. The rah-rah Tony Robbins'-like speeches. The incantations. The affirmations. “Believe in yo'self!”

Yeah. All important. But I don't think those messages sink in. Obviously, they haven't for those long-term Consumers.

But maybe it's all okay. Maybe this is what makes them happy. My mom, RIP, was “happy” being unhappy. Maybe these folks are, too.

I dunno.

How do you get perennial non-doers to do something?

If you know, share your thoughts in the comments.

I remember it like it was yesterday. I got on the plane with a package of wipes. As I was wiping down the seats, armrests, and window, I noticed the lady across the aisle staring at me.

She was a nurse. She said what I was doing wouldn't matter.

I told her it gave me just a little peace of mind.

This was a novel virus. Nobody knew how it was transmitted. It was speculated that it was via surface. You'd pick up the virus by touching a surface an infected person had touched.

Who knew it would be spread through the air we breathe?

As I was flying INTO the hotbed of the coronavirus (SeaTac airport, Seattle, WA) where the virus originally broke out in the US, I was concerned. Not worried.

Fast forward 4+ years. I'm in a hotel room in Las Vegas typing this post. It's nearly 6am. I'm getting ready to go into a building with hundreds of people for the third day in a row.

There are a few people here wearing masks. COVID is still on the minds of us all.

And it's weird. I haven't worn a mask in a couple of years. I've had COVID. I've gotten all the vaccines I'm eligible for. I'm fairly healthy (long story–LOL).

I barely think of the thing that consumed billions of people just a few years ago.

The lasting impact of COVID for me? This is the FIRST business meeting I've been on since January 2020.

I know a lot of people died. I know a lot of people who were very sick. Most of us wore masks for month after month for what seemed like two years. We all stayed inside for months. We got our food delivered. (I know, we are privileged.)

We all got COVID, though it wasn't severe. Nearly none of us escaped it in some very close, direct or indirect, way.

But again, the weirdest thing: This is the first time I've been on a business trip in four years.

COVID had and continues to have a tremendous impact on me. And I'm still a bit weirded out about being about.