Everyday Canvas

? Happiness ?

Prompt: Happiness
What is it that you think happy people have? And what makes you happy? Also, what is it that you have as skills or characteristics that you're most happy about?

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I am not sure I have ever seen an all-the-time, really happy person. The only one that came close to it was a lady friend of my grandmother's. My grandmother, too, was quite happy most of the time. The one thing that united these two people were the way they looked at the world and took everything from a positive stance.

Unlike my grandmother and her friend, this happiness idea made me think of Robin Williams with his faked happiness. Many people claim to be happy when, indeed, they are not, for they may be covering up something really sad. I believe any momentary, fleeting, or most-of-the-time real happiness shows in one's true being for those who can notice it.

This is because happiness is complex and deeply personal, and it is also an elusive, yet dynamic and fluid state of mind. More often than not, it is influenced by external factors, such as life events, relationships, and material possessions, but it is primarily rooted in one's internal thoughts, emotions, and perceptions.

What leads to happiness is experiencing positive emotions, like love, gratitude, satisfaction, and joy. Also, finding purpose and meaning in one's life, good relationships, and enough physical and material comfort add to one's happiness.

A high-school home-ec teacher (Miss Lindsay) taught me and my class a life lesson, not exactly on happiness but that lesson she taught have sustained me throughout my life and led to, at least, some partially happy moments. Her lesson was resilience. She said, resilience is the most important virtue we would need to attain and foster, no matter what, to live through this life. I believe I took her word for it and used her information at least to some degree in the worst of times and I came out better for it.

Then, engaging in activities that nurture the mind such as reading, writing, and the arts, and acts of kindness, helping others in whatever way one can--be it pouring water over a drying frog, or doing volunteer jobs or listening and understanding others' woes--also add on to some satisfaction in oneself. When all is said and done, the path to happiness is a personal journey and I believe there is no end point or a high-throne to it.


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