The kanji for happiness We're raised on happy endings.
"And they all lived happily ever after."
I remember fairy tales and Disney movies where the princess met the prince and then lived happily ever after. My feminist self bristles at the unstated message in those stories, but another part of me melts slightly, believes and wishes that were so, and such a happy ending is out there, somewhere, waiting for me.
But what happens after the happily ever after? The next morning, the next week, the next month, 5 years from now when Tommy is diagnosed with ADHD and little Lucy is a stubborn 8 year old turning 15? After the relentless grind of every day life has battered that happy ending until it is weathered, faded and barely recognisable?
Ah, you see now, don't you? I am far too practical for happy endings. Far too much of a realist, with a toe dipped in the pond of pessimism, just as my fingers trail through the river of optimism.
I don't believe it. Happiness is a journey, not a destination. It isn't something attained before the end. It isn't even an end in and of itself. It is moments - wildly exhilarating, heart thumping descents into dizziness and dangerous depths; peaceful moments snatched between particularly good dreams in which I change the unchangeable and unwind the tangled strings of my destiny; warm furry hugs from two large white dogs who love me more than anything and give me everything they have, no holding back; breathing the air of an unfamiliar place and feeling at home amid strange places with cobbled roadways, brightly coloured cloth and faces wreathed in wrinkles with bright button eyes that have lived and known.
I refuse to wait for the end before finding my happiness. I am happy. Not every moment of every day, but I am happy.
13 comments:
Happiness is a state of mind. Not necessarily a happy ending but the way we choose to handle it.
This is such a beautifully written post. It rings absolutely true.
"Happiness is a journey, not a destination. " YES. You express yourself with eloquence.
great response! I love it!!! i was just telling someone how my favorite movieof the moment, pan's labrinth does not have the typical happy ending or even happy turn of events...i can't agree with you more!
I can relate to that. The moments are what make the happiness...
wow, You're so right! I wish I would have read this BEFORE writing mine! Happiness IS a journey and I love those little happy moments in life that you describe. We need to scoop them all up.. freeze frame them all and view them at the end of life's journey.
just loved this post! :)
so many happy endings in the journey, small, and often taken for granted, like your animals at the end of a bitchy day!!!
Nice perspective... Notice how the media is always all over those seeming happy endings, looking for that glitch. That's because they know it's there! I choose to be happy...that's my happy ending! Well done!
Hugs Giggles
I have come to learn the hard way that the term happy is entirely dependent on a person and their desire for it. Waiting for it to happen serves no end other than frustration and bitterness. Seizing it instead and holding tightly, through all the storms is the only way...
Your blog is beautiful. As apparently are you. Inside and out.
Me too. Happiness is so fleeting, but I am fairly content with my life as it is. The hubby, the baby, myself... The things that upset me and worry me are often temporary and small picture things.
A Fair Tale
"Ah, you see now, don't you? I am far too practical for happy endings. Far too much of a realist, with a toe dipped in the pond of pessimism, just as my fingers trail through the river of optimism."
Wow, wow, wow! :) What beautiful imagery, here. I totally relate to this feeling.
You're right that happiness is a continuum rather a single point in time. If one were a real pessimist, one could say that every happy ending ends in a tragedy when the prince or princess dies. You have expressed yourself so well by using concrete examples of the various kinds of happiness.
"I refuse to wait for the end before finding my happiness."
Expressed so well!
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