What price for happiness?

How far should one travel seeking one’s own bliss?  How much time, energy, and resource should be spent to achieve joy?  And how much risk should one be willing to make?

 

For some, the answer is simple – minimal.  These people walk through life simply… existing.  They have dead-end jobs and dead-end lives where they do the same old drudgery day after day.  They feel no connection to their jobs, nor any sense of redemption.  Yet, the job pays the bills which allows them to continue to… exist… so that they can return to work again.  Oddly enough, the drudgery is, in its own way, a reward.  There is never a fear of the unexpected because they know what to expect.  There is never a concern about risk because they take none.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.  Status quo, status quo.

 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are the thrillseekers.  These are the people who live for today, for it is the only day they truly have.  If bored, they move on.  If not content to the fullest, they try something else.  Cross a bridge, and then burn it.  There is no sense of planning or forward-thinking.  There is simply… today.  Responsibility?  What’s that?

 

I would be lying if I said that I did not lean more towards the first example.  For most of my life, I was scared.  Scared of being different.  Scared of being singled-out.  Scared of being picked-on.  Scared of being left-behind.  As a child, my greatest wish was to just be “one of the gang.”  By this, I do not mean “popular”.  That would have been too much.  Instead, I just wanted to be one of the borg – 5 of 12 would have suited me just fine.  To me, this represented security – the one thing that for whatever reason, I never ever felt as a kid.  (You’d THINK that a little brat like me with five mothers would have felt some sort of security for cryin’ out loud).  Yet, the more I tried to fit in, the more I obviously stood apart.

 

My thirties brought about an amazing emotional-puberty for me.  It was not until then that I realized that my life was really in my own hands, and that I actually COULD steer my own fate and destiny. 

 

Hate your job?  Quit and get another one.

Unhappy in your relationship?  End it.  Cry.  Cry some more.  And then move on.

Unhappy with your appearance?  Dye your hair, get a tattoo, have your eyes lifted, pierce something, or lose weight.   Change whatever it is that you don’t like, look in the mirror, and smile.

 

Life is so very precious.  The gods have given us such a gift.  Being able to smell the perfume of a rose brings about such joy if you allow it to.  Driving around with the top down on a clear, sunny day is just heaven.  So many joys in life – the smile on a loved-ones face, a random compliment from a co-worker or business associate, the purring of a lazy cat trapped in a sunbeam streaming through a window, the smell of freshly-baked bread just out of the oven.  With so many joys in life, it would be such a loss if you didn’t allow yourself to enjoy them. 

 

What brings you joy?