Happy Water

Have you ever heard that when you say nice things to water, it reacts positively? 

This is the part where you question whether or not I’m making this up, and this is where I provide somewhat scientific evidence in the form of a link (I recognize that this individual’s work is now considered pseudoscience, but the point isn’t to believe in his idea, it’s to believe in mine). Have you clicked on it to prove that I’m only kind of crazy here? Thank goodness, now we may continue. 

The other day my grandmother and I were discussing life, love, and happiness like everyone does with their grandmother when they’re humoring their nostalgic mood. That particular day though, she started reflecting on this thought that I’ve proved to you actually exists. 

She looked outside and pointed to a big beautiful tree in the front yard and said, “That tree right there has water flowing in it. As does the grass and the flowers and all of my other plants outside.”

Then she turned back to me, urging me to follow along, “So, if I were to speak kindly to the tree, the water inside would begin to reactive positively, right?”

I provided a gentle nod of agreement, as a good granddaughter does. 

She continued, “If you speak kindly to humans then, who are made up of 60% water, wouldn’t the water inside them react positively too?”

My gentle nod reaction had paused. It’s not that I hadn’t been listening till that point. I just hadn’t seen where the train ride was ending. Now that I could clearly see, my mind couldn’t keep up. 

The notion was so simple. 

It seems like being kind should be an easy task, but, I for one, struggle with this concept greatly. I feel kindness for people in my heart but getting that kindness out of my mouth in coherent sentences is another story. Kind words somehow unintentionally transform into mild sarcasm by the time it reaches across the void in my case. 

But what if I removed myself from the equation altogether? What if I just looked at these opportunities for kindness as a sort of science experiment—for myself and others—instead?

It sounds a bit strange when I put it like that but bear with me here. 

If we’re to talk about this theory, that speaking nicely to the water in people will form a positive reaction, then if I were to think more positively of myself (making the water within me happy), then I would be able to be more adept at making other people happy water. Do you follow? 

I feel like I should make a strange quip about the fact that both of my recent posts have been incoherent rants about water-related things, but I digress. 

I suppose it is quite hard to keep in touch with my nonsense so, naturally, before I suggest or further describe it to you, I’ll have to try it for myself. So, I did. 

I’ve started playing tennis again more recently with a wonderful group of older women, all very well versed in the world of tennis playing, aka they kick my butt every week. When I showed up for my regular butt-kicking this past Thursday, I was confronted with a problem. A player, who at the time, seemed to be more out of practice than myself.

As the sun grew hotter and the breeze had all but died away, my last few bits of sanity dying with it, my frustration climbed to a point where I suddenly began to question why I had been frustrated in the first place. I was so upset over something so small that I surprised myself.

Then I had a thought, “Happy water!” 

Look, I’m no spring chicken myself when it comes to playing. I haven’t played tennis consistently in almost five years, yet I had the arrogance to get frustrated and judgy with a woman—who ended up playing better than myself—because she couldn’t pass the ball well to me. That was my first mistake.

My second mistake was not being kind enough to myself or my doubles partner and the water inside. So, for the next hour and a half, every single time I felt an inkling of frustration with myself or anyone else, I would whisper to myself like a madwoman, “Happy water, Chloé. Happy water.”

The craziest part about this story? It actually worked.

By the end of our match, I was finally able to enjoy myself. At first, I had been silent in complimenting shots I found to be worthy of praise, but by the end, all I could give was praise. I wasn’t as exuberant as I could’ve been, but it was a step in the right direction. 

When I started to make the water happy, I turned my attention away from all of the negative things going on around me and instead looked towards all of the positive things. My doubles partner, for example, killed it at the net! She became the volley queen, jumping and returning everything she could. My own performance turned around once I stopped berating myself for not upholding standards I could five years ago. 

All of these thoughts of “happy water” brought me back to the concept of judgment.

For the past few weeks, my mind has been filled with thoughts surrounding said concept. I’ve written and rewritten posts similar to this, trying to figure out really what the root cause is for myself. Because if you look at my story for what it is, using the phrase “happy water” helps me focus on what I can appreciate and accept rather than what I deem is judge worthy. 

Because ultimately, it’s easier to judge than it is to appreciate.

I’m nowhere near sainthood when it comes to not being judgmental. I try as best I can, as I would hope other people do, but even that right there is a judgment because people can do whatever they want to do; it’s their life! When I look at others’ “flaws” but fail to look at my own in the process (like my arrogance while playing tennis), I’ve done something far worse than this other person’s “flaw” could ever accomplish.

I put the word flaw in quotes to highlight the fact that what we deem to be another person’s flaw is only our limited perspective of them. Perhaps what we consider an imperfection, they consider a strength.

I have so much in my own self that I need to work on that the idea of expending energy to judge how other people choose to live their lives is becoming a more exhausting concept the longer I think about it. I already have enough work on my plate as it is.

My point is, when looking at an individual, if they have nine good qualities and one “flaw,” pay attention to the nine, and the same goes if they have nine “flaws” and one good quality. Focus on the good, make the water happy, and take the time to appreciate.

We all have so much we can offer the world, so let’s turn our gaze towards that and don’t forget, “Happy water!”