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Happiness. Where do we find it? People spend a lot of time searching for happiness. Some people try to buy happiness, some look to their families or friends for happiness. Some people look to their work to find happiness. Others to the time they spend in recreation. One thing that everyone in this world has in common is the search for happiness.
Life happens around us. People are rude; our bosses are bossy and demanding; our children are a handful; our houses are messy; our spouses get on our nerves; the internet is wacky; our library books are overdue; our cars won’t start; the line is slow at the grocery store; the drivers at the school pick up are crazy. Basically, we feel that our opportunities to feel happiness are robbed from us by everyday life.
Some of us rob ourselves of happiness by feeling bitterness towards people who are living in poverty. Some rob themselves by feeling bitter towards those who have wealth. We don’t see eye to eye on issues. Health care, gun control, SNAP, welfare reform, or anything political are all topics that can rob us of our happiness.
How important is happiness? We feel that if we are not happy in every moment of every day we are losing at life. Negative emotions are just as important as happiness. As a society we are not comfortable with people expressing sadness, anger, resentment, grief, depression, frustration, anxiety or any other emotion that doesn’t involve a smiling face.
When we give ourselves permission to cry when we feel like it, feel anger when we feel it, express our resentment, and feel our grief, depression, and anxiety in ways that are healthy instead of suppressing these emotions, we take away the power that they can have over us. We lessen the degree and the length of time that we feel them. When we share these negative emotions, we give others the opportunity to feel empathy, to offer comfort, and to share their own experience. By suppressing the hidden negative emotions that we feel, we deny ourselves a community of support.
And finally the answer to the question of where we find happiness. To that end, we are just like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. We have had the power for happiness inside of ourselves all of the time. It’s in the choices that we make. It’s in the desire to feel and release the negative rather than hang on to it. It’s in the desire for all people to be treated decently and kindly. It’s in longing for the smiles of our children. It’s in letting go of judgement and resentment and not letting bitterness into our hearts.
Happiness is inside of us. Stop and listen to it. It’s a like the song that the wind whistles through the trees. It is colorful like the early morning sky.
Let yourself choose happiness and the world opens up for you. Kindness matters!
