A Look At Happiness

It has been several days since I have started on my quest for happiness. I’m not really sure how well it is working. I think part of it is perceptional, if you see everything as an affront you will be spend a lot of time being defensive. And nobody likes to play the injured party more than me. A rebel without a reason, I guess. 

In a lot of ways, I suppose it might be my desire to take a stand for something, a Quixotic desire to be something I am probably never going to be. What better way than to see a multi pronged assault at every turn. It is a great way to be a hero without any real danger. Sure, everybody might think you’re a jerk, but who cares, you stood tall in the face of withering adversity. So, I have to put that behind me, and face the fact that I am just another cog in a gear running the machine producing misery or happiness as an incidental by-product.

Albert Schweitzer said “happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory.”  Which makes as much sense as anything. Fortunately my memory is terrible, or wonderful, depending on how you look at it. I remember things that never even happened. So much of my past has been spent running from reality that I’m never really sure what actually happened. Further, I have a very nasty habit of borrowing affectations and mannerisms from people that I’m not always sure who I am. It will probably be a pretty simple switch to start seeing my past as something much rosier, and who knows, maybe it was. And I will start looking for cheerful bits of people I can assimilate, the good bits, the happy, smiling, warm, wonderful parts that have been so annoying and elusive.

Good health is a little more difficult, but I have started going to the gym again. Everyday at work I walk past the elevator and take the stairs, pushing myself a little harder than I used to, my breathing ragged, sweating, heart rate climbing, I race to the next floor. People look at me as if they had never seen a graying, overweight man with a noticeable limp, glasses fogging up, sweat dripping from his chin, making a sound of inhuman sorrow and suffering racing up the stairs like an idiot. Maybe they hadn’t. But, I am willing to set a good example.

I am getting closer, everyday, and I am almost certain it will be worth the effort. Then I will write a book, "How to be Happy, for Dummies." And I am just enough of a dummy to write that book.

Today's Happiness Theme Song is a little different, from a woman whose life ended too soon, and whose voice is as strong as it is beautiful. It may not be all that happy, but it always makes me smile. Don't forget the coming poll on Life Explained Facebook Page