What makes me happy? That sounds like an all too familiar cliche question.
But trying to answer it left me thinking, thinking really deeply
Happiness is not that deep or is it?
It is not like joy that is from the inside out. It is temporal, fleeting, circumstantial but an emotion nonetheless.
The dictionary puts joy as a synonym for her and that throws me off, leading me to even deeper thoughts about what really makes me happy.
If being happy according to the dictionary is showing pleasure or contentment then I bet I can make an attempt at threading a list of what makes me happy.
So here goes
Rainbows do not make me cheery and neither do dogs though I know a few who see a puppy and light up. Not me.
Don’t get me wrong I do not hate dogs, far from it. I actually like them, but happy, is not the word that erupts when I encounter them no matter how cute.
Rain, the rhythmic tapping it makes on the roof or the accompanying illumination from lightning plus the claps of thunder. These, do not make me merry except I can be tucked away under a blanket with just the right Hallmark movie.
Or better still a good story nicely woven together character by character by a master class storyteller. That is sure to make me beam.
Hold on. It gets better.
When I am able to take the thoughts expressed by an author, churn them up in my mind, and express them to another person as questions, wise words, thoughts, or just sheer book shares. There, all the letters that spell happy come together. Satisfied is how I feel.
Did you know satisfied is presented as a synonym for happy?
I like that it is and that there are quite a few of those satisfying moments
… when I hear my name on the lips of a parent of a child I teach, telling what an awesome teacher I’ve been to their kiddos
… when I read a note, handwritten in a card or even on a random sheet on my birthday or on just because days
It is extra special if it comes from a kid I teach or have taught.
…when my birthday comes around. It always does, every year in October
… when I look back and see all around me, answers to prayers. Prayers shared, spoken or not
… when I watch a play, a stage play, and all the characters do justice to their parts
…when I watch a beautiful game of basketball, a high school team or NBA stars
…when Saka sets up a great goal or Arsenal comes away with 3 points
… when I make a meal or two and have friends and family smile as they help themselves to plate after plate. For someone who doesn’t like to cook, this sure makes me happy
…when people get my jokes [the dry ones] and match my sarcasm or share my love for books, Bull or Monk
…when I have hearty conversations with friends or make new acquaintances, happy best describes the feeling
As I write this, my eyes ache, my head throbs and my eyelids droop. But I can still be happy even when life happens. You know life makes me happy!
Life makes me happy especially because I get to do it with people. Not just regular people but people who are present and passionate; people who are confident yet sweet; people who are gifted yet humble. I get to do life with my people, pink eye or not, and that makes me happy!
