Happiness is only Skin Deep

How many things can a person juggle in their lives at the same time? Most of us have kids, a house, a significant other, one or more cars, one or more hobbies, a job, and a bunch of payments that support all of this. My thoughts have recently been trained on the fact that I have too much shit to worry about.

On a recent vacation, I was even worried about the consequences of getting eaten by a shark or dying in a fiery crash aboard a jumbo jet.  Who would be around to ensure that the shyster lawyers would not gobble up all of my possessions before making sure that my kids could pay for college and get three squares a day? How would I make sure that the contractors and employees in my company would get paid? The reality is, I'd be dead and wouldn't really give a rat's pitooty. Parenthetical question - What is a rat's pitooty anyways?

I know what you are thinking; if you are worried about having too much to worry about, you should get some help from a professional. I think that eventually, we all get to the point in life where we realize that all of the things that cause us to be anxious are just chains holding us back from true happiness.

I'll end with a song:

Raindrops keep fallin' on my head
But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turnin' red
Cryin's not for me
'Cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin'
Because I'm free
Nothin's worryin' me

All content copyright of Christopher Hammond

I Am Happy - Oh So Happy

My thoughts have recently drifted towards wondering what makes me happy. It seems to me that happiness is a very temporary human condition. We become happy when we get a birthday gift, or when we receive a sum of money. This is of course a temporary condition, as once the moment has passed and the money is spent or the cake is eaten, we return to our normal dismal state. I contrast this with contentment. Contentment, it seems to me, has a longer life span. You can be contentedly full or contentedly married, or content in the wealth and wisdom that you have attained over a lifetime. The word contentment, has a much more inertia and longevity in a persons life. Happiness, in contrast, is more active and energetic.

There could perhaps be an entire field of science that we shall call Joyonetics. In Joyonetics, we would have laws, such as "People that are content, tend to stay content" and "Happiness is a temporary condition that is quickly eroded by the drudgeries of existence". Perhaps this field of endeavor is even greater than a simple science and can be elevated to the level of a religion. In this new religion, we would have novices and masters. A novice would be the equivalent of a giggly schoolboy and a master would be more along the lines of Jerry Lewis.

Eh - maybe not.

All content copyright of Christopher Hammond