Lately I have noticed there are those that would rather wallow in misery than allow joy and fun into their lives. The funniest part is those that have a serious case of the glums have been younger than me!

The most recent encounter was on a trip away with my beloved to a little seaside town. The quaint town charmed, with its fisherman’s houses and boutique distillery/gift shop outlets and the imposing bluff above the town.

The drive into the dark the previous night had been worth it to wake to such a beautiful place. It was lovely to sit on the balcony with a hot cup of tea and watch the morning awaken.

Later after tackling a hearty brunch in a café with a whale’s name, we even surprised ourselves and surmounted the monolithic bluff that sat above the town. The day had been abnormally hot and so we decided to relax on the balcony and watch the other climbers and the world go by.

Then as we sipped champagne, enjoyed our antipasto platter and continued our banter and laughter the storm broke. It was a relief to have the thunderstorm bring the rain, it swept away the pesky flies and the heat but it also made the power go out.

It made no difference to us, two mid forty-year olds; we continued our banter and I may have laughed – a lot!

The woman from the other room (that shared the balcony) sat on a couch (that her boyfriend had pointedly turned to face the other way in the early afternoon) on the balcony on her own. She was dressed for dinner, but with the lights and power out, there was nowhere to go. Her boyfriend returned briefly and  sat for a moment bedside her, before both retreated to their room, loudly slamming their door.

I wonder if perhaps they had been unprepared to share the balcony with others? We were not averse to saying hello.

Then out of nowhere the woman from next door – still dressed for dinner – appeared tentatively, on her own, shoulders tight, and said as our laughter was still ringing,

“Could you just tone it down, please? We’re trying to sleep..”

Fortunately being agreeable types we acquiesced and went back into our stuffy room. It was then that I showed the time to my partner – the time on my phone said 9:35 pm, on a Saturday night!

9:30! Perhaps the thirty year olds with a serious case of the glums couldn’t cope with the sight of forty-year olds having fun, inhabiting joy. Despite the weather sharing happiness!

Who knows, if they had said hello we would have invited them over to join us. It was disappointing and hilarious at the same time, to be asked to tone it down by a thirty year old at 9:35pm on a Saturday night. Don’t worry dear reader, it didn’t dampen our spirits, rather added to our adventure.

We all I think deserve happiness. It came as somewhat of a revelation, when someone dear said that to me recently. I realised that in fact for the longest time I just expected that I didn’t deserve it and didn’t expect to have happiness.

But we all do, including those glum thirty year olds, who told us to tone it down!

Happiness is a right, not a privilege. It’s not luck, cut yourself a big , guilt-free slice, you deserve it!