On Happiness
A good friend of mine recently asked me how I retain my happiness in the face of such adversity and misfortune. The recent tragedies I have witnessed and others around me have witnessed strike a person right where it hurts them the most, the soul. It's not an emotion you can describe or share. It's not something physical that would be pictured in an anatomy book. It's something that gets you off-guard, maybe you're already off-balance a little, maybe you're looking the other direction, then you turn...and it hits you and knocks you down. But the resilient person gets up and continues on his or her way, not without batting an eye, not without shedding a tear, nor without taking the time to collect oneself, but he or she eventually gets up and continues.
This person might have new goals, new motivation, new ideas, but he or she is still the same person and is still not giving up because of tragedy. Happiness might be something that isn't felt the same way any more, maybe not felt at all. Happiness might be the persistent goal to find, and the pursuit of it be the motivation for getting back up.
In an old Simpsons episode, Marge quotes, "Happiness is wherever you find it." Maybe that means that happiness is in the strike that you bowl at the bowling alley with your friends. Maybe it means that happiness is in your favorite song that comes on the radio just when you need to hear it. Maybe happiness is found in the fact that you have a best friend who is never going to leave your side, no matter how far away from you he or she lives. Maybe happiness is giving your mom the biggest hug the when you haven't seen her for over a month. Maybe happiness is in the pair of underwear that you spent $50 on. Maybe happiness is in something that you worked so hard on for weeks and months or even years, and finally seeing it through.
Happiness could just mean seeing other people that you love being happy. I don't know if I have an answer. I live my life one day at a time. I don't always find happiness, but far more often than tragedy, happiness finds me.
This person might have new goals, new motivation, new ideas, but he or she is still the same person and is still not giving up because of tragedy. Happiness might be something that isn't felt the same way any more, maybe not felt at all. Happiness might be the persistent goal to find, and the pursuit of it be the motivation for getting back up.
In an old Simpsons episode, Marge quotes, "Happiness is wherever you find it." Maybe that means that happiness is in the strike that you bowl at the bowling alley with your friends. Maybe it means that happiness is in your favorite song that comes on the radio just when you need to hear it. Maybe happiness is found in the fact that you have a best friend who is never going to leave your side, no matter how far away from you he or she lives. Maybe happiness is giving your mom the biggest hug the when you haven't seen her for over a month. Maybe happiness is in the pair of underwear that you spent $50 on. Maybe happiness is in something that you worked so hard on for weeks and months or even years, and finally seeing it through.
Happiness could just mean seeing other people that you love being happy. I don't know if I have an answer. I live my life one day at a time. I don't always find happiness, but far more often than tragedy, happiness finds me.
posted by Leland J. Fischer at 3:15 AM
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