Finding Happiness

“Is Anyone Happy Anymore?”  titled a December 22, 2019 article in The New York Times. The writer mentioned climate neglect, toxic politics and mortality as issues interfering with happiness. This essay comments on the listed examples of happiness.

The descriptions of happiness were: 1. “Think little” written by Wendell Berry “A person who is growing a garden, if he is growing it organically, is improving a piece of the world” 2. The founding fathers found happiness in the idea of pursuit, both in the chase and in the hunt 3. Irish positive pessimism-be happy, things will get worse 4. Catholic guilt-you don’t deserve happiness anyway 5. Happiness cannot be pursued, only realized and chosen 6. Poet Seamus Heaney became a poet who shared, with his readers, the ability to stay pleased 7. Moving back from New York to the family farm in Ireland 8. Meeting Michael Dooley, a farmer, in his 80s who rode a bicycle and continued working the land. Dooley would take off his jacket, lay down on it and watch the world turning with him in it. For Dooley, that was happiness.

In these happiness illustrations, there are a few things to note. For example, happiness entailed pursuing an emotionally and cognitive satisfying activity like farming or hunting. It was physical, in nature, using intelligence, being goal oriented, and having some control. Also included was a personal evaluation with a sense of accomplishment with meaning and purpose. This physical activity could be done alone or with others. The activity was also more primitive than the typical hustle and bustle of needless and sometimes senseless non- personal employment of daily activity. Having a sense of accomplishment and purpose provided a positive emotional state which are necessary for happiness. Note, happiness is behavioral, cognitive, perceptual and emotional. Further, it’s what we do and how we think and evaluate about what we do. Remember, defense mechanisms, drugs and other altering states get away and distort everyday reality because happiness is difficult to achieve.

Another example was aging and mortality. The ability to do and be active without an interfering sickness or illness was important during the aging process. However, the writer noted that he has been married 35 years and his wife had stage III bowel cancer.

 Personally, I am not happy  that I am neither  able to run as fast, nor have the endurance that I did 10 years ago, but I’m happy and pleased that I  still run. Therefore, I entered the Jed Smith half marathon which is shorter than previous endurance runs. This upcoming event is scheduled for tomorrow. My friend Tony plans to be my pacer. Once again, being physically active along with an emotional sense of accomplishment, purpose, future and goalsetting results in a positive sense of being. I’ll be happy when I have completed the run. Then as a tradition {future}, we stop at Baskin - Robbins for the real reward. Ice cream happily continues to be my favorite food. Tony stated “We will be able to get ice cream earlier this year.”