The obvious answer to that is, isn't everyone. However, finding
true happiness, that you can sustain, isn't obvious to everyone.
Today I was fortunate enough to get to spend my afternoon with one
of my best friends, drinking coffee and catching up on the past month.
As the afternoon progressed I popped outside for a few minutes and
came across two men, one white man in his late forties and one Asian man in his
early twenties swooning over a fancy sports car in the car park. The reason for
my mentioning ages and race will become apparent later.
The first man turned to me and said, “I would really like that car.”
The second man said jokingly he probably already owns it. The conversation went
on for a few moments more and then the young man said to me, "Well it is
all about working hard and getting what you want."
I debated for a moment on whether to just smile in response or to
actually express my opinion. I went for the latter and said "I think it
is all about what makes you happy." They both agreed and so I
continued. "If you think about the times you are out with your family and
friends, yes. If you have just purchased a new car, television, you will talk
about it then, not so much the next time or the time after that. The things you
will discuss, will reminisce about, laugh about time and time again are the
time one of you got drunk and did something daft, the time you had a date that
went so wrong it was funny, the time that... whatever life experiences you have
had that have stayed with you. These are the things that you will talk about,
laugh about for years, not moments.
Both men, two very different men, said you are right and gave me
the biggest of smiles. However different they appeared to be on the outside, it
was a joy to see that on the inside they recognised that whilst material things
can be nice, the joy they give is short lived and doesn't feed your soul.
Our little chat at an end, I went back to my friend to further top
up my happy. Half an hour later, one of the men and his partner passed our
table as they left. The man turned, smiled, said “I hope you have a lovely rest
of your weekend and take care.” My friend asked whom that, was expecting it was
someone I knew, so I explained what had happened.
I shared with these two men something I truly believe, that
happiness is not about feeding your bank balance, your house full of gadgets,
your driveway with fancy cars. Happiness, true, sustainable happiness is about feeding your soul. It is about
doing things you love, spending time with people you love, meeting new people.
It is about doing things that inspire you, that make you so passionate you want
to tell everyone you met about them until they feed you cake just to shut you
up for a moment (hint, hint to any of my friend who are reading this).
So on that point, I wish you all a wonderful Sunday and I hope you
feed your soul and find your happy.
Cate
x
Although we may vary in gender, age, race, creed, or what have you, the more we pursue what brings out smiles, the better we will enjoy the ride. I will gladly take you a piece of cake of your choosing and look forwards to more writes. Hell of a feel good post. :D Cheers
ReplyDelete