Share the Gift of Happiness

My friend Holly died last week. She battled stage 4 Liver Cancer for over a year and lived longer than they thought she would.

The reason I’m writing about this is because she was Happy until the end. She spent her last year bonding with her family and friends. She faced death with a happy attitude and I admire her for that.

I met Holly a few months before her diagnosis at a book signing. We were both Martha Beck trained life coaches and she introduced herself as we stood in line waiting for Martha to sign our books. We later shared stories about our lives while Martha bought us hot chocolates. Martha Beck standing in line at Borders buying the two of US drinks was quite humbling and we giggled like two little schoolgirls. How amazing! After Martha was whisked away we agreed to organize a meeting of all the Chicago area coaches.

A few months later, after her diagnosis, she did just that.

Sitting with these amazing women and hearing their life stories and the many miracles that bought us to that time and space was quite moving. We each faced fear and survived to tell the story.

I think Holly shared her story last. She told how she loved her family and her friends and how most of all she loved being able to help people look at their lives and their problems differently. She told of her illness and how her life coach training helped her face the fear head on while making difficult decisions about her future – however uncertain it was. We all listened in amazement as she talked about her own mortality and I felt blessed to be in her presence.

A few months later the group met again at a Greek restaurant downtown. She looked well. We each talked about our projects and I shared my desire to someday host a talk show with other life coaches. After the conversation Holly leaned over and said, “Sheryl you should do it. You have the perfect personality for that.” I thanked her for her kind words and actually felt she might be right.

I got an email from Holly several weeks later. She explained that one of her clients had a friend who was a talent scout. He was looking for someone to host a talk show in Oprah’s time slot and she immediately thought of me. She gave her my contact information and wanted me to know just in case a guy called asking all sorts of questions about my desire to host a talk show.

I couldn’t believe it. It was like I had just won the lottery and Holly had so graciously given me the ticket. Somehow a simple thank you didn’t seem adequate so I typed 15 of them in my reply.

You see Holly was that kind of a person. She often did things like that for people. It was as if her mission in life was to help people live happy lives and from the turnout at her Memorial Service it was evident she had done just that.

Holly will be missed by a whole lot of people.

Her presence here on earth made the world a happier place and I’m grateful I got the chance to know her. Although her passing made me sad it also reminded me of a few things that make me happy.

I’m happy I get to touch lives like Holly did.

I’m happy I get to help people live happy lives.

I’m happy I get to share my thoughts and my life with you every week.

How about we each share a little happiness with someone else this week? How about we each commit a random act of kindness that makes someone’s day?

I think that would make Holly extremely happy.

I’d love for you to share your Happy Holly experience with my readers and me. I’ll share mine too.