Naked Juice and Happy Trees

I can't decide what to blog about, but there's nothing to do at work. So I'll talk about the tree outside of my work that brings joy to my life and somehow tie it into some eternal truth. Good practice to become a seminary teacher, right?

For the past two and a half years, I have walked past a special tree at Heritage Halls hundreds upon hundreds of times. I call it my happy tree, for lack of a more sophisticated word (I was a freshman when I named it). It's always the first tree in the spring to get its leaves and the first tree in the fall to turn a beautiful golden yellow. It really makes me smile and feel good.

But it's a tree though, right? How can a tree make someone's day countless times? The answer is simple: it does nothing more than be its happy little self.

You may be asking now why "Naked Juice" is in the title of this post. That's because it reminds me of two people in my life who make me happy by simply being themselves, with no attempts to cover up who they really are. So much so, in fact, that we've gotten Naked at Macey's many times.

These two friends, Jessica Borup and Mary Vanderholm by name, are the kind of people who sincerely brighten when they see you. I know without a doubt when I run into one of them on campus that they truly are glad to see me. They give me all of their attention when they talk to me and show genuine concern or happiness when appropriate.

My goal for this new year is to become a happy tree to as many people as I can. I think we're all tired of people who are fake and ungenuine, people who pretend to be your friend on the outside but deep down all they can think about is the next task they have to accomplish before dinner. I want to be the kind of person who when I talk to you, you know that you have my full attention.

What kind of friend are you?