Happiness
Early in 2007 I went on a blind date with a scientist who was also a brilliant artist. During our 3-mile walk, he passionately explained to me that he needed to find a woman so he could be happy. It became very obvious within the first 10 minutes of our date that we came from very different places.
I tried to suggest that happiness may not be something one seeks, but he kept cutting me off with another story about how miserable he was. In his mind, the only thing that would release him from his misery was finding a woman to love.
At the end of our date, I politely thanked him and began to walk away. He came after me, and implored, “But don’t you want to be happy?!” I looked at him, smiled, and answered, “I am happy.” And he somehow took that as an offense, said something rude, and stormed away.
I was reminded of that strange experience yesterday, as I stumbled upon some quotes on the topic of “finding happiness” while looking for pithy quotes for a project. I thought these two were worth sharing:
We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have. ~Frederick Keonig
Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from within. It is not what we see and touch or that which others do for us which makes us happy; it is that which we think and feel and do, first for the other fellow and then for ourselves. ~ Helen Keller
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