Happiness

As I sit here, drinking my cup of tea on my day off, I started thinking about what makes me happy. Some of my happiest moments are held here, in my living room, drinking a cup of tea, and reading a good book or my favourite magazine, the Economist. A philosophy class I took in College: One day, the teacher asked us 'is it difficult to be happy?'. I promptly put my hand up and said 'no'. He looked genuinely shocked. He asked me why I thought that. I simply replied that happiness is a state of mind. It doesn't mean that you don't have bad days, or sad moments, or angry moments. It simply means that at the end of the day ... or sometimes week ... month .... year ... the bad moments fade away, and you can sit, contently, with a cup of tea, and feel happy. I'm not sure why. I'm not sure why some people manage to live optimistically. Good upbringing? Good values? Good genes? Good neurotransmitters? Good person? I have some co-workers who have gone to hell and back, and still have a great sense of humour and a positive outlook on life. I admire them greatly. I think some people are truly blessed with good families and good surroundings, and I certainly consider myself one of them. But I don't think this is necessarily a pre-requisite for happiness, although it probably helps. I think that happiness is choosing to see the good around you, stopping to look at all the beauty in the world, not being self-centred, and appreciating the small things in life .. although I'm sure it's much more complicated than that ... maybe? I think it also means allowing yourself to be angry, sad or frustrated because that means you are opening yourself up ... and 'embracing your dark side' as I read in a book once. Which in my view, means you are embracing all aspects of life, good and bad. When I feel sad sometimes, I write down all the wonderful things in my life, and the things that make me happy. Reading the list back feels like a warm blanket being wrapped around me, and anxiety subsides.  These include, in no particular order: Richard, my family, my friends, making lists, being organized, writing, making a difference, contributing to society, exploring, reading, sports and arts.  And a good cuppa always helps ;) But I don't think these things make me happy after all: I think what makes me happy is my ability to appreciate them. I don't know, maybe being happy isn't so easy after all, and maybe my original response to that teacher in College was a naive one, and simply a reflection on my own experiences. I really do think I am naive sometimes and 'not a very good detective' as my co-worker jokingly said, referring to my trusting nature. And don't worry, I do realize I've probably contradicted myself a few times in this post. So conclusion to all of this? Well, I'm not sure. But I do know that I'm happy.