Last week, I wrote a column in anger. I generally don’t like to write angry, even though there’s so much for us to be outraged about every day. We live in an era where everything seems urgent, and with this election cycle, the stakes are so high.
Nevertheless, I choose to be a happy warrior. I don’t like to let negative emotions drive the way I write. Unless a subject requires total seriousness, I prefer to throw in some humor — or at least some snark.
Being a happy warrior comes naturally to me. I think that stems from my faith. I know that God is in control, and even if we don’t understand everything that goes on in this world, He is sovereign. I also believe that keeping a good attitude prevents me from becoming too angry or falling into too deep a despair.
I believe we conservatives who understand the value of life have reasons to be happy warriors. I’ve written before about how my brother nearly died from kidney disease, but six years later, he’s thriving. The wife of a friend of mine found out that she had two years to live from a rare form of cancer. Seven years later, she and my friend watched their daughter graduate high school last week. My pastor and his wife adopted a boy with special needs. When he was a baby, doctors told them he would never walk or talk, but today, he runs around and talks too much!
There’s also a connection between joy and wisdom. Podcaster Maria Baer says that “enjoying small things in the life that we have now and in the physical world that we’re in for right now is the path to wisdom.” She adds that people become cynical and angry “because not enough people enjoy small things.”
I love to have fun, and I try to seek joy every day. Do you know who else loves to have fun? Our PJ Media VIPs! On the VIP side, we have tons of fun. Let me show you what I mean.
A couple of years ago, my friend and esteemed colleague Stephen “VodkaPundit” Green and I wrote a companion series in which VodkaPundit ranked the James Bond movies, and I ranked their theme songs:
More recently, VodkaPundit and I started a new series of occasional posts where we write about albums we believe have gone underappreciated over the years. VodkaPundit has extolled the value of underrated albums by Frank Sinatra, Eric Clapton, and Queen Latifah (you have to read it to understand it), while I’ve tried to shed light on overlooked great albums by Vigilantes of Love, Maria McKee, and Mr. Underappreciated himself, Paul Davis. And there’s more to come in that series.
There’s more VIP content for happy warriors. Stephen Kruiser goes “Beyond the Briefing” with video content like only he can produce, and he and Kevin Downey, Jr. go “Unwoke” in their always hilarious podcast. Don’t forget to visit the “Kruiser Kabana,” where he weighs in on the issues of the day with snark and good humor. I’m going to debut a series of summer music lists exclusively for our VIPs sometime soon.
But the biggest place to find the happy warrior spirit is on Monday and Friday afternoons when VodkaPundit and Kruiser host “Five O’Clock Somewhere.” The conversation and cocktails flow freely — BYOB — and they often continue after the live broadcast ends. Anytime I hang out with the VIPs and the Steves on Five O’Clock Somewhere, I have a blast, and you will, too.
The way to get your hands on this amazing content is to become a PJ Media VIP. When you become a VIP, you not only help us fulfill our mission to report the truth in a world that desperately needs it, but you also unlock loads of fun content just like what I described above.
There’s never been a better time to join our band of happy warriors because you can use the code SAVEAMERICA for 50% off your VIP membership. That takes your VIP membership down to about $2 a month or $4 a month for VIP Gold, which is a small price to pay to have so much fun. So come and have some fun with us!