Several years ago my wife Mary, came to the conclusion that if you can’t be happy in Brentwood, Tennessee, you can’t be happy anywhere. I’m sure she’s right! If you aren’t happy here, there is little hope for you!
But what does Mary know? She has been happy everywhere we lived! Of course, she was happier in Milwaukee, and Atlanta than she was in some other places, but none-the less, she was happy and so was I.
Let me tell you a bit about Brentwood, then we’ll spend some time talking about happiness.
Absent the recent freeze, the weather here is super, probably not better than Atlanta, but then we have very little traffic compared to that automotive mecca. Sure, the express ways are crowded for an hour or so in the morning and again in the evening, but we are able to avoid driving during those times. In Atlanta, which we both loved, we were able to walk to 13 restaurants, but we couldn’t drive to any!
We have some of the best public schools in the country. OK, our test scores may be lower in Tennessee than in Iowa, but ALL our students take the tests not like some places where only those who plan a college career take them.
Visit the Brentwood Library and you’ll decide to move to here. It was rated one of the top ten city libraries in the country! It has everything and does everything. I’m sorry I don’t have kids I could take there. Some of our grand kids volunteered to work there when they were in high school.
That’s three good reasons to love Brentwood, and I haven’t even mentioned the country music scene. Where ever you go you bump into singers. They are just regular people who shop at Kroger, Home Depot, and sit next to you in church. Best of all, they all say Nashville, which includes Brentwood, is unique in that the public lets them be private citizens. And there is music everywhere! Many restaurants, clubs, pubs, and bars have live entertainment. Every waiter in town is a “waiting to be found” musician or song writer. They are all so hopeful and fun to talk with. It’s a ball out there!
That brings up another reason we all like Brentwood, it’s part of Nashville. There are some great colleges and universities here, NFL football, and a NHL team, so what if they don’t have winning records. We still love ’em. And the people really do exude that southern hospitality which you don’t find in every southern city. Seems though that many are from the fifty-first state, “Up North”.
And also very important, Brentwood is in the center of the Bible Belt. Not that everyone is a “Bible thumping Christian”, but church goers here lift all religions. They make talking about religion a norm, everybody does it. The first thing your neighbors will ask you when you move into a new community is have you found a church yet. They won’t badger you with proselytizing, but will honestly help you find the church you are seeking.
I could go on and on, and I’m sure you could write a similar essay about why you love your community. I just wanted to let you know that if all these thinks can’t help you be happy, you need a good look into your self.
Some people are always down, never happy. I played golf with a man who told me he never had a neighbor he could get along with. And before the round was over I knew why. He cursed and threw clubs, among other things. He didn’t live in Brentwood, but I don’t think he could be happy here, in Miami, Buffalo, New Orleans, London, or even in Paris!
Happiness is an attitude. It doesn’t come from things, it comes from inside. One man told me he tried for 15 years to make his wife happy, but nothing worked. Finally he told her if she wanted to be happy that was her responsibility, not his.
I think it was Abe Lincoln who said, “A man can be as happy as he decides to be!”
Mary and I decided to be happy more than five decades ago. And we have been, but living in Brentwood definitely makes it easier!
So my wish for all of you is that you choose to be happy and have a happy new year.