Happiness

Sarah - Nice to know. And thanks, sweetie. =)

Allan Chalmers: 'The grand essentials of happiness are - something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.'

Then I realized that the more screwed up you are, the more you think of some past tragedy as not that bad after all. 

Brilliant, isn't it? You get this sudden insight of how much worse things can get and suddenly, whatever you've faced in the past seems like weeding in the garden when you're wrestling a beast now. Your perspective tips over like a glass that is finally knocked over the edge because, oh-dear-I'm-fighting-with-my-life, and nothing else quite matters except this time zone through which you're gritting your teeth and praying to God that this would be worth it. 

My point is, happiness is a perspective. You can be in a right shithole, but that doesn't mean that all the other crap you've been through wasn't just as bad. To a fifty-year-old Madonna, growing old isn't something you just 'get over with' or to simply perm your hair and wear knitted overalls. 

We all think that the keys to happiness involve learning, reading, watching TV, paying your bills, exercising, watching your portions, calling up a friend, ranting in a journal, blah blah - but these are all things that our current society urges us to do. When our ancestors bound their feet and corseted their waists, warred for riches and served animals for worship, you can bet it wasn't because they were in search for some epic sadness. 

Here's some food for thought:

Dude #1: What if I don't want to be happy? What if I want to be miserable?

Dude #2: Be miserable, if that makes you happy!