Kay:
Well, a bright hello to you Questers today. This is March 2nd and episode 302 for you. It’s a very special day today because it isn’t one of, I think, most known poets of all time. It is his birthday today…The famous Dr. Seuss!
Shi:
Otherwise known as Theodore Seuss Geisel, or Dr. Suess, a family favorite for so many and his quote that’s being featured today is, “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”
Kay:
Now, if you weren’t deeply impacted by a Dr. Seuss book growing up, then you may have been living under a rock from ‘The Grinch’ to ‘There’s a Wocket in my Pocket’ to ‘Oh, the Places That You’ll Go’ one of the…
Shi:
‘The Lorax.’
Kay:
Yeah.
Shi:
Yeah. Oh my gosh. So many. ‘I saw it on Mulberry Street,’ ‘Yertle the Turtle.’
Kay:
Give it up for Yertle.
Shi:
I know. A great lesson in ‘Yertle the Turtle.’ Obviously ‘Horton Hears a Who,’ and ‘Horton Hatches an Egg.’ Seuss is a big deal in our house. Between the two of us, we’ve got the four kids ages, three to 10. So, Dr. Seuss is a big name in our house and one of the first books that you start to read. In fact, fun fact, ‘Cat in the Hat, or I’m sorry, ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ was a book that his friend challenged him, that he could not write a book with less than 50 words and he did, and that is the famous ‘Green Eggs and Ham.’ So, the words repeat, but there are not more than 50 words in that story.
Kay:
As a kid, much to the disturbance of my mother at our school, we would actually have a Green Eggs and Ham Day where they would dye eggs and dye ham and we would literally eat green eggs and ham.
Shi:
In fact, typically today, March 2nd, most elementary kids and libraries do celebrate this in one way or another. In fact, in our house, we even have an I am Sam, Sam I am sign and fake green eggs and ham prop that our kids have used throughout the years to celebrate the day. So, a beloved childhood name but this quote is so much more than the globbity-gloop that we get used to from Dr. Seuss. This is actually good old fashioned good advice.
Kay:
Now you might hear this, “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened,” and maybe you go into like, “yeah, yeah,” zone. Okay, but let’s bring this into a really practical application for you. Shila and I like to quantify this feeling as the birthday blues because, the day after your birthday, (after celebrating the birthday itself where everyone tells you how special you are, people write you poems…)
Shi:
You get to make all the decisions. You do whatever you want.
Kay:
…you make all the decisions. You literally do whatever you want and then the next day it’s like ooh…
Shi:
Yeah. I guess just me.
Kay:
…back to regular old me.
Shi:
Then this is where this quote can apply and it’s not just the birthday blues, although that’s the day it’s most prominent. The day after any big celebration, the post-Christmas blues, your post-wedding blues, a post-vacation blues. When something big has come to a conclusion it can be easy to slip into that “cry” mode as Dr. Seuss talks about here. But the simple redirect of the glass is half full rather than half empty is the same concept that Dr. Seuss gives us here. “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” It doesn’t change the circumstance, but it changes your perspective on it.
Kay:
We do want to add just a little caveat here that it’s okay to cry. So, if you need to cry because it’s over it, that’s alright. Just don’t wallow because it’s over. Smile because it happened because when we wallow after something wonderful, that might make us feel sad because it’s not here anymore. We actually begin to taint the memory for future use when we go back to it.
Shi:
In fact, every time you recall a memory, you’re re-imprinting it into your mind. So, studies from jurors to psychological examinations have shown that our memories aren’t as solid or as objective as we might think that they are. In fact, they get altered over time based on how you remember something and how you tell yourself that story. So, by redirecting yourself in the moment when you are crying, or you want to cry into why can’t I be happy about what happened or what do I have that I cherish from that experience can help re-imprint that memory in your mind and make it a happy one rather than a devastating one.
Kay:
So, to remind you, Mr. Theodore Seuss “Ted” Geisel tells us, “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”
Shi:
Alright, it’s obviously a Dr. Seuss quest, but – don’t worry – we won’t make you write a story in 50 words or less. In honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday today, we want you to recall a fond memory from your childhood and smile, actually lift those corners of your mouth and smile because it happened. Allow that energy of the memory to fill you up with the feeling of joy throughout your day. Are you ready?
Kay & Shi:
Let’s quest!
