The Relativity of Happiness

I had a conversation with my friend the other day, and the subject of happiness came up. We began discussing what really makes people happy, and ultimately decided that happiness is relative and completely based on perspective and perception. If someone told me my diet for a week would consist of bread and water, I probably would not be happy; if someone went up to anyof the 400,000 homeless people in resettlement camps in Haiti and told them their diet for a week would consist of bread and water, they'd probably cry for joy.

It all goes to show how truly relative happiness is. You could be angry because you don't like your job, or you could be happy that you have a job at all (especially in this difficult economic climate). You could lament over your crappy apartment in a bad location with obnoxious roommates, or you could be happy because you have a roof over your head, because many people don't. Or, as Abraham Lincoln once said, "We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses."

On the other hand, you have to be careful to find the line between being happy, and just settling. In pushing for happiness, I am not advocating using happiness as an excuse not to try to get out of bad situations. As depressing as this thought might be, if everyone were happy with what they had, nothing would ever get done. Being miserable is an incredible motivator. If everyone decided that what they had was good enough, productivity would evaporate.

I think the trick to being generally happy in life is balance. You have to be able to find the golden shimmer in everything, because there is undoubtedly a hint of good (even if you can't see it immediately) in even the things that seem the worst; and at the same time you have to keep the yearning for something more. There is no such thing as good enough. Find a reason to be happy in everything, and keep pushing yourself. This way, you'll never be miserable, and you know you can always achieve something more, push yourself harder, be better.

Ahh, you see? The simple formula for happiness. How many ages have wise men and women struggled to find this answer? And here it is, on a blog. You didn't think that with one little click you'd learn the secret of happiness, did you?

Yes, I only wish I was that wise. The truth is that I have not yet mastered this secret, but I can only hope to bring a small amount of perspective into the lives of others, and in doing so, maybe learn a little something myself. As my father (one of the wise men I referred to) sometimes says, the best way to learn is to teach.