(this will be a multipart post, as I like to keep them short, quick reads)
Happiness… you know it, when you feel it. Is it hard to define, a multifaceted jewel that changes from every angle? Or can you put it in just two boxes?
Happiness in the moment: Your team just won the World Series. The birth of your first child. Catching that perfect wave. The presentation that came off flawlessly. Closing the big deal. French onion soup from Jake’s in Portland. Sex on the beach.. the act, not the drink.. well maybe the drink too. Intense happiness, but fleeting.
The deep, slow hum of a soul fulfilled during the journey: Your team won a World Series, but you also have had a long, fun 15 year career in the majors. Living on the scuba boat you bought in Hawaii, teaching classes to the tourists as you enjoy paradise. Taking a business from the garage to the New York Stock Exchange. A career with 20 patents and thousands of lives saved. Being the chef/owner of that famous restaurant. Raising a family to adulthood with your true life partner. Not always joyful, ups and downs, but overall a life fulfilled.
Think. Can you box up your special pieces of happiness in one of these two boxes? No? Think harder, or easier. These are two very big boxes. Yes? So now, which boxes are most important? Where does most of your happiness reside? Where do you want the pieces to live?
Both boxes are important. They conflict at times, but really, both are needed and flourish together. Your pieces of happiness should be in both boxes.
Next post…How is happiness created?