I took part in a discussion about happiness on Facebook, which gracefully reminded me about my own philosophy on the subject.
I don’t believe you find happiness in wealth or anything else in your surroundings. I believe you find it within yourself. When you find peace and harmony within yourself, you have found happiness, according to me. And this has nothing to do with external circumstances.
My comment was not met with cheers and salutes. Probably most of them thought me fuzzy and naïve. I can live with that.
The important thing is I got reminded about what happiness is, according to me, not others.
I have felt rather worn down lately and out of focus, a victim to circumstances, unavoidably buried under laundry, dishes, cleaning and day-job. Things have always been like this. Or rather the factual situation has always been like this. That is what life is: you have practical things to attend. It’s been about the same since I was eighteen and moved away from home.
What has differed over the years is my attitude towards it all. I can choose to see the good things or the hard and boring things.
I walked home enlightened. I would open the door to my home, seeing my two healthy boys I’m blessed with, meeting my darling husband who loves me, and being at peace with the mess and the noise.
Surprised I stood in the doorway; the house was empty, husband and boys out on an errand. Without telling me or leaving any note; the dishwasher unattended as well. The cloak of happiness started to scratch my skin.
Then I reminded myself that external circumstances do not matter. I still had two wonderful boys and a loving husband, even if they left and forgot to tell me. It is always a matter what I choose to see and remember. I’m not a victim of somebody else’s life and decisions.
Photo by: Alchemist-ph
Used under the Free Art License
2 comments:
How right you are. There are many people in the world who would like us to think we are victims - but we don't have to be.
I had to work through a bit of this myself. Decisions I made years ago mean I cannot quit working for a few years, yet. I am 65 - the time when most people begin to think of doing so.
Were I retired, I could write and write and write and write! And take a walk in the woods, and go for a trip. But it's not time to do so yet, and my real challenge is to say, "OK. This is my life. I still can chose how to live it.:
Thank you.
It is good that you can feel content with your decisions earlier in life, because there sure is no way to change them. So many people become bitter about these things and stop living for real.
There are choices I would make different today than I did then, but I am twenty year wiser too, and there is still nothing I can do about it, so I just have to accept that my studies were the way they were at the time.
Post a Comment