My daughter is always in a good mood!  She is an excellent living example of how to “Choose Your Attitude” and my own personal favorite; you can be happy anywhere and always or nowhere and never.  Her main tool for her wonderful attitude is her Ipod which she is happy to where anywhere and always rather than nowhere or never. 

She never wallows in the quagmire of day-to-day misery the national media rains down upon us that I choose; even crave, to swim in voluntarily.  She doesn’t hear about oil prices and strife in the middle-East; gunfire on college campuses or the housing bubble and stock market variations.

All she hears is; “Low” by Flo Rida featuring T-Pain or “Psycho” by Puddle of Mud.   I can’t say I understand her music (click on some links to listen to a few samples) but it sure puts her in a good mood and we do agree on Greenday and Jack Johnson.  Conversely, I end up stressed out wondering if my one vote can fix the topsy-turvy mess of endless electioneering and campaigning or if I can keep an Iceberg from Melting by turning my thermostat down 2-degrees.

Have you ever noticed how happy your kids are when the family arrives for dinner after a stressful drive across town?  Or how ‘bout how quickly they can let go of an argument if they are simply allowed to retreat to the back seat of a car under the soothing protection of their Ipod earphones?

These kids are onto something here!  They have stumbled onto stolen moments for private reflection; meditation if you will.  We can learn from them rather than judge their choice of music or accuse them of being out of touch.

Candidly, in this day of internet, texting and 24-hour television these kids are more hardwired to current events; and more concerned and stressed about it than any prior generation.  Shame on us for shaming on them; I congratulate my daughter and her friends for learning how to retreat from all of this hyper stimulation for some personal time.

Learn to shut it down for a few minutes every day; morning, noon and night.  Choose your Ipod-itude.  Entry price for an Ipod shuffle:  $79; getting to watch my daughter Choose Her Ipod-itude while doing the shuffle:  PRICELESS