Fancy toys
Stunning good looks
Two stories here:
Story one, fancy toys, takes place back in Provo, Utah. Lissie and I were playing in the front yard. She was collecting sticks and these nifty seeds that dropped from the tree bordering the sidewalk and the street. Down the sidewalk rolls a hefty kid and what appeared to be his little brother in a two seater toy car. It was the shiz. Nice plastic parts, and it even moved at the pace of one of those motorized chairs you see not-so-healthy people sitting in sometimes. With such a magnificent ride, you'd think those kids would be grinning ear to ear, right? Umm, not exactly. In fact they looked, I kid you not, totally miserable.
Story two, stunning good looks, took place today on the 1 train between the Financial District and Times Square. On walks a woman who obviously has a career in modeling. This woman truly was in possession of stunning good looks. That is to say, she was effing gorgeous. I wish I could have taken a picture so as to send readers on a hunt to find what mag she poses for. But did she and her metro boyfriend and their perfectly groomed Boston Terrier hanging in his doggy sling look exceptionally happy? Hrm, no. Not really.
I know both stories are anecdotal. Some of you may be thinking I may have missed some longitudinal details, or that objectively, what does happiness look like anyway? I will say in response to the latter that I know happiness when I see it. And some of the happiest people I've known in my life didn't have exceptionally fancy toys or stunning good looks. I'd like to be more like those people.
What happy people do you know that don't fit the marketer's image of happiness? I bet you know some. Tell me why you think they're so happy, if you please.Okay, so maybe these (<) questions are a little too cute. Fine. Answer your own best question about happiness.
Stunning good looks
Two stories here:
Story one, fancy toys, takes place back in Provo, Utah. Lissie and I were playing in the front yard. She was collecting sticks and these nifty seeds that dropped from the tree bordering the sidewalk and the street. Down the sidewalk rolls a hefty kid and what appeared to be his little brother in a two seater toy car. It was the shiz. Nice plastic parts, and it even moved at the pace of one of those motorized chairs you see not-so-healthy people sitting in sometimes. With such a magnificent ride, you'd think those kids would be grinning ear to ear, right? Umm, not exactly. In fact they looked, I kid you not, totally miserable.
Story two, stunning good looks, took place today on the 1 train between the Financial District and Times Square. On walks a woman who obviously has a career in modeling. This woman truly was in possession of stunning good looks. That is to say, she was effing gorgeous. I wish I could have taken a picture so as to send readers on a hunt to find what mag she poses for. But did she and her metro boyfriend and their perfectly groomed Boston Terrier hanging in his doggy sling look exceptionally happy? Hrm, no. Not really.
I know both stories are anecdotal. Some of you may be thinking I may have missed some longitudinal details, or that objectively, what does happiness look like anyway? I will say in response to the latter that I know happiness when I see it. And some of the happiest people I've known in my life didn't have exceptionally fancy toys or stunning good looks. I'd like to be more like those people.
What happy people do you know that don't fit the marketer's image of happiness? I bet you know some. Tell me why you think they're so happy, if you please.Okay, so maybe these (<) questions are a little too cute. Fine. Answer your own best question about happiness.
2 comments:
What does happiness look like? Oreos. Definitely, oreos.
Happiness is not something that comes easily or naturally to me. But I think I'm getting better at it with age, and it's not due to fancy toys (which I have very few of), although my stunning good looks probably don't hurt. For me I think it's a growing sense of doing what I know I should be doing, what I was meant to do. I don't always feel happy in the moment (more often I feel exhausted, especially with the little one around) but I feel a lot of satisfaction in my life right now.
Still when I think about the people that I would most often refer to as really happy, they are almost all people who have been genetically blessed with a high happiness "set point." Most of them augment that with doing things they feel are worthwhile, taking the long view of life, but many of them openly acknowledge that it is easy for them to feel happy. (Speaking of happiness, I recently enjoyed reading "The How of Happiness" by Lyubomirsky -- she really breaks down what science seems to tell us about happiness: roughly 50% genetic set point; 10% life circumstances; 40% within our self control to impact based on our choices, behaviors, and habits. I think you might find some worthwhile ideas in there!)
I used to think happiness was mainly based on whether or not you had the Spirit with you. While I still believe that to be largely true, my experience with fertility treatment, as well as my mothers experience with the post cancer estrogen depleting drug Tamoxifen, has led me to realize that for a woman, happiness has a lot to do with hormone levels. (And has helped me to better understand those with chemical deficiencies requiring medical tx.)
I believe that satisfaction in life (or rather feeling that the Lord is pleased or satisfied with your direction in life) is necessary to obtain that inner peace from which happiness blossoms. Again though that goes back to seeking the Spirit to guide me/ understand my mission/s in life.
Your post on "joie de vivre" exemplifies a quality those who seem happiest all possess, and that is finding joy in simple things. It is a childlike quality that is often lost as an adult. Thank you for reminding me of that.
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