"Just because life is hard, it doesn't mean you can't be happy"

A few years ago, I remember watching a young woman sing on "America's Got Talent". She was thin and frail and was clearly dealing with a health crisis. Her performance name was "Nightbirde", and she sang an original song, "It's Okay". Simon loved her voice and was moved by her story. She got the golden buzzer from him which meant she skipped some of the performance process. She was too unwell to perform at the Finale, which she would have easily won. She passed away shortly after that.

This season, I watched a show where they revisited some of the golden buzzers of the show. They showed Nightbirde's audition and when she was introducing herself, the judges commented on how happy she was as she was going through her health struggles. She replied, "just because life is hard, it doesn't mean you can't be happy". 

What a powerful message. It took me back to when I worked on Palliative Care. I have always said, I learned so much about living from the dying. I knew I had a better approach to life when I was working on Palliative. Many of the patients had nothing to be happy about, but they were. They had accepted the fact that they were dying and were now trying to fill their final days with happiness.  

Some people are always happy. Others are never happy; they drag their black cloud everywhere they go. Usually, it is the people that have all the reason in the world to be unhappy that are the happiest. 

It is an individual choice as to how we shape our life. There are things in our life that we can't change. Writing and singing music like "It's Okay" is one way that Nightbirde got up every day to be happy. What a beautiful legacy she left behind and a powerful reminder to be happy. Maybe, we all need to write our own version of "It's Okay". Often life is not easy, but it doesn't mean we can't be happy.