Quantum Happiness Series- Banish moldy mulligrubs

“Gloom is but a shadow of a cloud passing by.”

– Yann Martel

I live on Florida’s Emerald Coast in the lovely, little town of DeFuniak Springs, population 6,000. For the most part, folks either love our little burg, or they don’t. There is no in-between. Ironically, the reason for either their love or lack thereof, is the same. We’re quirky.

Our claim to fame is Lake DeFuniak, one of two perfectly round lakes in the world. (The other is Lake Kingsley, 250 miles to the east.) From the late 19^th century until the beginning of the Great Depression in 1929, DeFuniak Springs was home to the Winter Chautauqua, a cultural symposium and sister conference to the Summer Chautauqua in New York State. The lake was ringed with Victorian winter homes, and town bustled with residents and visitors alike.

Unfortunately, the depression hit hard, and recreational rail travel between New York and Florida ground to a halt. Residents fell into a collective gloom, or as they called it, “the mulligrubs.” Symptoms of these mulligrubs included:

· Low energy,

· Pessimism, and

· Grumpiness.

The legend of Fuller Gloom

But one man had a plan. Mayor Robert Lee McCaskill decided to get rid of those mulligrubs once and for all. He rounded up a funeral party, outfitted them with stovetop hats, and held a two-block funeral procession from the courthouse to the site where the metaphorical Fuller Gloom’s tombstone was found decades later. There he buried Old Man Gloom and declared the area, “Happy Hollow.”

We’re proud residents of Happy Hollow.

So, the next time you’ve got the mulligrubs, take a lesson from my hometown and bury Old Man Gloom.

· Have a ceremony, or

· Throw a party, or

· Write a letter and tell him goodbye.

You decide how to do it, and just do it. Put him to rest.

Engagement exercise 1:

Name three mulligrubs that you need to exterminate from your goal garden:

1) _________________________________________________

2)_________________________________________________

3)_________________________________________________

Engagement exercise 2:

List three ways to exterminate each of these mulligrubs:

Mulligrub #1:

1) _________________________________________________

2)_________________________________________________

3)_________________________________________________

Mulligrub #2:

1) _________________________________________________

2)_________________________________________________

3)_________________________________________________

Mulligrub #3:

1) _________________________________________________

2)_________________________________________________

3)_________________________________________________

This has been an excerpt from the Everyday Vacay e-series.

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