The Trick to Being Happy
The other trick to happiness is keeping a dino in your purse so that you needn’t ever find yourself dining alone.
Perhaps one of the most fantastic tricks I have ever come across to make life better is the ability to find the wonder and joy in every moment.
It need not be a big spectacle; in fact, the smaller seeming the moment, the better the contender for deep, true joy.
It is not rocket science to understand why the happiest people often seem to lead the simplest lives (or maybe, in a way, it is). When we shed our requirements for living well down to the bare minimum, which is this — to find the joy in every moment — it is not hard to imagine how much easier it becomes to feel happy. The less you need, the more you enjoy (it goes a little something like that).
I have often written of our society’s extreme over-valuing of convenience, speed, and efficiency — all wonderful qualities in the right time and place, and yet, all qualities which, when over-embodied, steal from us the soul-loving richness and art of connection, love, and happiness.
We are not meant to run like robots here on this planet; we are not meant to clock in and out of our lives with no time to pause and consider the intricate makeup of the landscape around us — rather, we are meant to find the delicate balance to it all; a combination of all the things but each coming into play with the utmost intention and thoughtfulness.
If you are wondering where the wonder has gone, or you are finding it difficult to feel a sense of joy and happiness, you need not do more than pause and take in the world around you.
Like a child in awe of the first lick of ice cream, or a pup rushing to meet every stranger, the happiest among us will always be those who can meet each and every moment as an opportunity to find the joy.
AUTHOR’S NOTE#100daysofwriting | This essay is the ninth in a series of 100 I am challenging myself to write before the end of the year 2022. As of today, 103 days remain. Will the essays be perfect? No. Will they be done? Yes. As a life-long recovering perfectionist who loves to write but fears subpar work, to write with such frequency and disregard for most standards except the one that asks, is it published? will be an adventure, to say the least.
Topics, I’m sure, will span the breadth of seriousness to silliness, will cover the grounds of spirituality to observations I may make in a nail salon, but truthfully, there are no promises in such a challenge, except to say that yes — they will be done.
You can keep up with my writing challenge by following me on Medium, or subscribing to my email list.