“Do you desire happiness? Answer with honesty.” My friend SMS me.
That question caught me off guarded. “Don’t have answers” I replied.
“Just a ‘YES’ or ‘NO’ answer.” My friend insisted.
I suppose everyone will give a “YES” answer. Who doesn’t want happiness? That makes the question quite redundant and even slightly stupid in the first place. Why ask something when you already know the standard answer?
Only babies laugh openly when they are happy. As a teenager, we laugh at the silliest joke. The mildest remark will make us giggle among our classmates. It was the age of innocence and carefree soul.
As the baby pass gradually being withdrawn from us, so is our laughter. Soon we realise that laughter doesn’t represent happiness. We laugh merely because we are amused. That’s all.
So I rarely laugh heartily nowadays. I learn to contain most of my emotions inside me. I do not rejoice aloud when my health is going well. A new shirt doesn’t make me jump with glee. I don’t clap when my bank shows some extra cash.
The amount of love that I receive from my partner is sufficient to last me 2 lifetimes. I am blessed to have a few good friends who genuinely care about me. There is a decent apartment to shelter me from rain. The freedom I have is more than I could ask for.
That question caught me off guarded. “Don’t have answers” I replied.
“Just a ‘YES’ or ‘NO’ answer.” My friend insisted.
I suppose everyone will give a “YES” answer. Who doesn’t want happiness? That makes the question quite redundant and even slightly stupid in the first place. Why ask something when you already know the standard answer?
Only babies laugh openly when they are happy. As a teenager, we laugh at the silliest joke. The mildest remark will make us giggle among our classmates. It was the age of innocence and carefree soul.
As the baby pass gradually being withdrawn from us, so is our laughter. Soon we realise that laughter doesn’t represent happiness. We laugh merely because we are amused. That’s all.
So I rarely laugh heartily nowadays. I learn to contain most of my emotions inside me. I do not rejoice aloud when my health is going well. A new shirt doesn’t make me jump with glee. I don’t clap when my bank shows some extra cash.
The amount of love that I receive from my partner is sufficient to last me 2 lifetimes. I am blessed to have a few good friends who genuinely care about me. There is a decent apartment to shelter me from rain. The freedom I have is more than I could ask for.
Alright, my life has little excitement and almost no enthusiasm. All in all, you can call me jaded. But deep down inside, I am blessed.
Maybe the actual meaning of happiness for a person of my age could be NOT being unhappy. If one desire happiness, he is focusing on things that we do not have, thinking that he will be happy after getting them. Why not just count the things that we have?
So my answer is “No, I don’t desire it. Because I am already living happily.”
Maybe the actual meaning of happiness for a person of my age could be NOT being unhappy. If one desire happiness, he is focusing on things that we do not have, thinking that he will be happy after getting them. Why not just count the things that we have?
So my answer is “No, I don’t desire it. Because I am already living happily.”
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