“Don’t worry, be happy” — Bobby McFerrin immortalized the phrase with his Grammy award winning, finger snapping song back in the early 90s. Many others have said the same before, after and will for generations to come. The very next thought that crosses your mind is another classic, “Huh! easier said than done”.
Maybe. Maybe not. Who is to say?
YOU. And only you.
In this technologically advanced era that we live in, quite often, we end up equating personal happiness with personal attachments — materialistic and if not, something that is tangible. Something that must pass the mustard test of our sensory organs. Pause. Think for a moment. Identify your possessions — your tangible possessions. Happy. No. Okay. Dream of that next thing on the other side of the shopping window (or the greener pasture) — and pursue until it’s with you. May have to part with another possession that’s just paper (or plastic). Done. Happy ? Repeat and rinse. As nauseam. Then what is ?
In the midst of all these accomplishments, was there moment you stayed an extra minute with a loved one or you stopped to help a stranger, or even stopped to observe the sunrise or sunset (mind you, I never said observe through a man made lens a.k.a. camera/phone) or tried to bounce a flat stone across a body of water or just bring a smile on someone’s face. Simple gestures or actions that when you look back draws an indescribable feeling or an unnoticeable smile that just extorts a simple “nice” — all by itself. Nothing more. Nothing less. And nothing else. For a brief moment, hours and miles away from the place of action. Maybe just before you dozed off or a thought that crosses your mind out of nowhere. A strange feeling of satisfaction — for which you neither strived nor vigorously pursued. Yet it made you feel good, happy. Nothing more. Nothing less. Nothing materialistic. Nothing tangible. Yet, a possession. A possession only for you. By you. Deep inside you.
Just happy.