Happiness: A Myth?

I’ve (R1), has been dealing with jet lag and in doing so has been doing a lot of late night musings, and it got me thinking… can someone really MAKE us happy? I’m not talking specifics, but you often hear people say “my kids make me happy or my partner makes me happy”. What does that mean? Can we make OURSELVES happy? Or is it an external thing?

Contentment:

The Definition: happiness
ˈhapɪnəs
the state of being happy.
“she struggled to find happiness in her life”
synonyms: contentment, pleasure, contentedness, satisfaction, cheerfulness, cheeriness, merriment, merriness, gaiety, joy, joyfulness, joyousness, joviality, jollity, jolliness, glee, blitheness, carefreeness, gladness, delight, good spirits, high spirits, light-heartedness, good cheer, well-being, enjoyment, felicity. Source: Happiness Definition

R1’s Happiness View:

I battle on a daily basis with this train of thought; when there are numerous things which make you unhappy, what do you look to- to change your general mood. Personally, I don’t think someone can MAKE you happy; ultimately we are in charge of our own happiness. Someone can add to our happiness or can be the cause of our contentment, but they don’t make us happy. I don’t intend to be a downer, but I think it starts internally, we hear all the time that happiness is a choice- how can it be a choice, if someone does it for us? Happiness is all about perspective, how we view and interpret things. I do find it a bit of a shame how life works; we begin needing only simple things, food, comfort and love; it’s only as we get older and are introduced to material things, others’ opinions and societal pressures, that we slowly become less and less happy. As we age, we begin to realise that going back to the basics is the way to our own contentment. It’s just so hard to do with all the comparisons thrown at us, but I am a firm believer that we can all be happy if we CHOOSE to be so!

1- Listen to music

2- Have a bubble bath

3- Use my colouring books

4- Work on the blog

5- Have a cup of tea or wine

” Be so happy that when others look at you…they become happy too “

R2’s Happiness View

Who knew that happiness would have been one of the most complex terms to explain. It varies from day to day, from time to time, as well as life to life. What you may see as happiness will for sure be different from what brings me happiness. For me, happiness comes in the simplest of forms; from seeing pictures of my niece, to just having my dog jump up on the couch and snuggle with me. It is funny how our furry friends seem to know, just the right time to apply a little bit of comfort, which goes a long way to bringing back our happiness. I wish that I could tell you that every time I do X,Y,Z I get happy, but I can’t, because I would be lying to you. Happiness does not always come in the same form when you need it the most. It’s just about finding the little things that will bring you BACK to a state of happiness, verses an object or notion that brings about happiness.

1-Music: I know that I state this one all the time, but I can’t help it. Music brings be joy and happiness. I have a whole Pinterest board dedicated to musical quotes of some form… Music is the one constant for me, that I can go to, no matter my mood and things will change. Usually for the better. So why can’t my happiness be found in music?

2-Books: I’m a book worm. I admit it. My joy for books has been stifled this past semester with Sociological textbooks, but I promised myself that once I finished school for the summer, the happiness that reading a good book brings me, would be replenished. Entering another world through a book brings me happiness beyond words. Sometimes I just have to get way from the hustle and bustle of city life and take a few minutes to get lost in a book. I have found as I am getting older, that my happiness does not have to come from something major, gigantic, extreme and so forth. I am a sucker for the simple things in life.

3-Sudoku: I think that anyone can tell by now, that I am clearly one to find happiness in just about anything and everything I do, once I take the time to think it through and reflect on the good that is right before me.  Sudoku for some, may seem complex and  overwhelming, for me it can be an outlet. I have found myself time and time again, reflecting on  what stressed me out, while trying to solve a Sudoku puzzle. You don’t have to say it, because I already know it. I’m a weird  one, who finds solace in playing a game that makes others’ heads spin. Maybe that’s the whole point. It requires me to think hard and try to solve a problem that is separate from the one before me, that I am able to find a solution and come back to my state to ME!

4-Talking: Have you ever found yourself needing to just rant, or talk it out to yourself and the four walls that surround your room? Well I’m sure that R1 would agree with me and say that talking brings me happiness. I can be a rambler, I just can’t help it. I enjoy talking, which is interesting, because I can be very shy as well. But I know that I am only shy around people that I do not know, or am not too comfortable with. Perhaps its the blabbing that brings me to my state of happiness, calm and satisfaction, but I’ll take it in any form.

5-Colouring/ Drawing: I’ve een slacking a lot on this front, but I thought really hard about what my #5 should be and drawing/colouring came to mind.  I’ll be blunt, I’m no Picasso, but I do know my way around hand lettering and those really colour books that have become the latest fad.  I never truly thought about how good of a stress-releaser they can be, that it has now turned into something that I enjoy doing on my spare time.

6- Piano/Singing: As important as music is to me, singing and playing the piano take #2. I have alway loved playing the piano and singing into a fake microphone, ever since I can remember. From taking piano lessons for who knows how long, I am only truly reaching my potential and exploring my capabilities in the world of piano keys, in the past two or so years. Just like the rest of the items in my list, the piano/singing brings me so much happiness, that I find it difficult to find the right words to express how I feel. I listen to music and can image myself sitting at my piano for hours on end, playing away. I still find myself getting a bit stuck in my head when I get cold feet about taking the plunge and just trying whatever on the piano (its a work in progress). Now to overcome the fear of playing continuously for a group of people on a weekly basis (talk about taking the plunge!).

What are some of the things you do to make yourself happy and how often do you carve out time to do it!? Drop us a line and let us know!