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It is too often said that having a big heart will come back to bite you in the ass. It's practically a proverb. Having a big heart is a quality that is usually associated with the eternally optimistic, the psychologically positive (positively psychic?) or the naive.

Having a big heart is a quality you can't hide. A big heart makes me smile. A big heart makes me want to hug people in a way that tells them that it is not just a rote gesture but an attempt to establish a real human connection. A kiss on the cheek is a greeting not a meaningless homage to custom.

I have found a handful of people out there with this kind of muscle.

The kind of person that makes you positively light up with more than a passing smile on your face. My mood changes, my mind clears and I hang to their every word in an effort to harness some of the brilliance - emotional or of any other flavor - they exude.

I wish I could say we when I speak of them. To do so, however, would be presumptuous.

Ariadne once gave Theseus a ball of string to escape the labyrinth. What follows can be considered either a fatally flawed metaphor or a great exercise of the mind. Here's to hoping for the latter. People like this should write a book. A how-to manual on how to live life. Even more curious is the fact that some have attempted to do so. Penn and Teller - in their academic studies - once looked into the "life coach" phenomenon. They studied the backgrounds of these life coaches who sold their services to individuals needing that allegorical bear hug in their life. Toadies and humbugs for the most part.

Colloquial translation: In "Be Cool" Travolta discussed the paradox of being cool. If you're cool you can't actually say that you're cool. He also says that if you're important enough, people will call back (shall we forgo the use of voice mail then? Are YOU cool ENOUGH?).

In much the same way, the people who write the happiness variety of books (not to be confused though they might sometimes overlap with self-help books) and preach about the importance of having a this trait forget that their profiteering from their "knowledge" speaks of a fundamental character flaw. My view, this view, is admittedly naive in capitalism. So? . I'm a realist and a utilitarian who leaves room for idealism.

Write a manifesto and try to distribute it to the masses. Leave a manuscript of it in the subway with instructions to read and pass(pay) it forward.

The feeling I get is that of finding a round piece of pre-1988 copper on the ground and wishing for good luck. Our very own brand of felix felicis.

If you have a big heart, whisper your secret to me. I'll keep it.