Don't Worry Be Happy

Cruising out to Stingray City on board the Beauty II

This is a belated post -- it has now been over a week since my daughter and I returned from Grand Cayman, but I just didn't manage to get this up here in the post-vacation frenzy.

I've never much liked this song, but I picked it to mark our trip for a couple of reasons. One, it's got an island sound -- so it's the kind of song that's more likely to pop into my head or be played on the radio -- when I'm in the tropics:

Here's a little song I wrote,
You might want to sing it note for note,
Don't worry, be happy

The other reason I picked this song is that on the last day, my daughter and I visited a turtle farm, and when we heard there was a saltwater lagoon where we could snorkel if we upgraded our tickets, we jumped at the chance. I'd had the experience of swimming with sea turtles before, but my daughter hadn't, and plus, from the number of turtles they had at the farm, I thought we'd be swimming with not just one majestic creature, as I'd done in the wild, but many. With that picture in mind, imagine my disappointment when the only turtles in the saltwater lagoon were three babies, no larger than a small fish. I mean it was still cool, especially for my daughter, but it just wasn't what I expected.

Look really closely, and you'll see one of the tiny turtles I'm talking about!

After we got done snorkeling, I asked another couple who'd just come out of the water if they too felt disappointed. The woman, who was German, said to me: "No. I learned a long time ago: Expect disappointment and you will always be happy."

I had (or maybe still have) trouble wrapping my brain around that. It seems pretty grim, but then again, she was the happy one walking out of the lagoon, I was the one wishing I'd had a different experience. There must be something to it?  I told my boyfriend about it when we got home and he said "I don't think that'd work too well for me." I feel the same way. But I wonder if there's a way to incorporate a part of her attitude without it seeming too negative.

Here's what Bobby suggests:

In every life we have some trouble,
When you worry you make it double
Don't worry, be happy

I guess he means disappointments will come; it's inevitable. Just don't let them bother you. I think that's a lot different, a lot more sage advice than expecting to be disappointed all the time.

In the end, I didn't let it bother me too much. My daughter's excitement over the little turtles (and the fish) was enough to make it her favorite part of the trip -- and this trip had a lot of exciting moments swimming with sea creatures, including dolphins and stingrays.

My favorite by far were the stingrays:

She didn't like them so much, but that's ok. I reckon sometimes it's easy to take this song's advice and sometimes, for whatever set of reasons that definitely include our expectations, it just isn't:

Don't worry, be happy