The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and I volunteered at the Markham Science Rendezvous.
Life is so beautiful today. It gets me pondering about happiness.
I think I can establish a few truths that I've discovered about happiness.
1. Happiness is elusive. It is fleeting, and it's hard to hold on to forever.
2. Happiness is subjective.
3. You rarely understand what will make you truly happy.
But the more I thought about the "truths" of happiness
The stranger it becomes.
First the issue of holding on to happiness.
I don't think it's possible at least not forever and constantly.
I have yet to meet anyone who is always happy, all the time.
In fact, if I were to meet this person
I would not only be really surprised but feel sorry for them.
The feeling of great and strong happiness can only come after some other sort of emotion.
The love that comes after a really tough and brutal fight.
The hope that comes after a long period of suffering.
The emotions that you feel when someone returns after being so far apart.
It's all elevated by the contrast.
The white made so much brighter by the dark background.
The shining iceberg in a raging storm. Beacon of light in a stormy night.
Happiness is subjective.
This is fundamentally true,
There are people who will say
"The happiness of ______ is also my happiness"
It's still subjective. Your happiness "paradigm" so to speak, is to rely on others.
It's impossible to share precisely, exactly, down to the last detail,
the same happiness as someone else.
You rarely understand what will make you truly happy.
This is also true.
The more I move along in my life,
the more I realize how little I know about my own happiness.
There will always be things that will grow on to you.
There are acquired tastes,
There is inexplicable love,
There is unpredictable talent,
There are undiscovered interests,
There are paradigm shifts, epiphanies, and discoveries.
There are so many things in the big, beautiful world.
So many things to learn.
So many things to experience.
So many things to try.
To eat, to touch, to smell, to see, to hear.
To feel, to love, to discard and then rediscover.
To rekindle, to forgive, to understand.
Maybe that's what happiness is all about.
There is no destination called happiness.
There is no finish line, no ending prize, no hidden bounty.
It's in the quest, the treasure seeking, the exploring.
The learning, the experiencing, the love, the feelings.
The very search for happiness.
That's where people should really be looking.
I've discovered lasting happiness does not lie in anything you could ever buy, or quantify.
True happiness comes from you appreciating what is there.
It's helped for me to take on a new view of happiness.
To get one step closer.
Happiness is no longer about achievement,
Happiness is about understanding the meaning of what you have achieved.
