Yesterday, while I was dancing ecstatically, I finally figured out the secret of happiness. It's nothing you haven't heard a million times, but I feel like I finally understand. The secret of happiness is...Hang on. First some backstory.
This blog was born out of depression. Constrained by financial inertia, I saw that my life had become predictable and dull. Being a writer may be a dream come true, but the constant insecurity of trying to make a living as an artist has always fueled a sense of "I'll be happy when..." In fact, I've been afraid to stop being discontent, for fear I'll become complacent, then wake up years from now realizing I let my life pass me by.
But, by not allowing myself to be as happy as I can, I have let some of my life pass me by.
Having reached the middle of life's journey (don't kid yourself, anything over 84 is bonus time), I don't want to postpone being happy any longer. Doing something new every day has made me realize the power of taking joy in the ordinary while still striving for the extraordinary.
I'm embarrassed to admit how trite and unoriginal it is, but the secret to happiness is simply to choose it. To do things that make you happy.
Let's face it, life is full of experiences that will knock you on your ass every day. So you constantly have to seek experiences that'll pick you right back up.
Well, you meaning me, at least.
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9 comments:
Trite reminders are great and I like they way you stated it:
"Doing something new every day has made me realize the power of taking joy in the ordinary while still striving for the extraordinary."
Those are words to live by! Congrats on your insightful day!
Congratulations! That's not a trite reminder. So many people over-complicate things but often the truth is in the simple things. Choosing to be happy is a good decision!
Amen, bro.
Sometimes trite is right. The tricky part is when you don't always have access to some of the things that make you happy.
i was having a conversation just last night about the seemingly contradictory ideas that one can be happy and still strive for greater happiness. that striving for more doesn't need to devalue the actual happiness that you already have. hugely interesting idea to me.
Since stumbling upon your site earlier this year, your 'trite' (your word, not mine--on this point/word we disagree)has made me smile and/or laugh many a time, when I was not otherwise predisposed to do so. You have become one of my guilty pleasures. (don't tell Floyd). Wait, I take that back, it's a guiltless pleasure. I try to not do guilt anymore. I don't think that we can be reminded often enough our own role of choice. I don't have the choice over much of what is my life out of circumstance or luck of the draw. What I do have a choice in is how I respond to the Sh#, I mean crap in life. Choosing happiness ain't always easy, but it is a choice. "Click your heels 3x and say, 'there's no place like home.'"
Thank you for being a continuous reminder.
I got the same feeling after reading this post as I did my junior year in high school after reading Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self Reliance." This is exactly what I needed to read today. Thank you!
As Ryan Oneal said to Barbra Streisand at the end of "Whats Up Doc", "That's the stupidest think I ever heard." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbAwa_4W5oo
You are young, handsome, thin, have a boyfriend, and are talented and I am just giving you a hard time. No double entendre intended.
Having recently reached the "half way mark to the finish line" myself, your blog entry totally hit home! I was tired of being unhappy and I realized I was causing my own unhappiness by simply not doing the things that would make me happy! Your statement “I don't want to postpone being happy any longer” makes perfect sense! I want the last half of my life to be much happier than the first! And who has the power to change that? Only me. Thanks Marc! You rock man.
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