Seeking Happiness in a New Year

During my ritual morning coffee, I had checked emails, read a devotion and scripture, and then logged on to Facebook -- mostly out of some bizarre sense of obligation that I have yet to understand -- and began scrolling down the page, jumping from post to post.  And I subconsciously stopped to read this one post. It was shared by a friend who's seldom on Facebook.  Someone I used to see often but haven't seen in a few years.   Maybe that's why I stopped at her post...maybe I just miss talking to her?  Or maybe it was me thinking that if she's taken the time to say something, it's likely worth reading?

And her post, just a couple of sentences posed in the form of a question -- I won't quote it -- was a bit alarming to me.  She seemed to be reaching out, a cry of sorts, alluding to depression.  I couldn't shake it from my mind.  Been thinking about it all morning.  I'm determined to get in touch with her.  I'd like to think that there is SOMETHING that I could say to her, just by showing up in her life and reaching out to her, that will fill even a part of whatever void she's facing in her life right now.  I think back to when I last saw her...I see her face, her blonde crazy-curly hair, her broad, intoxicating smile, and that infectious giggle.  I would never have suspected her -- of all people -- to be depressed.  Eye opening.

One look around, and we see how easy it is to allow life to pull us down into muck.  To become victimized by disappointments, tragedies, sickness, inequities, struggles.  No one is immune.  But knowing how to best deal with "darkness" is the key, I think.

I'm haunted by the tragedy of Robin Williams having taken his life.  Could his life have been spared had people known what mental torment he was going through?  Such a waste.  Very sad.

When I arrived at the office, I clicked on my bookmark for ThinkExist Quotes.  It opened to the page showcasing famous people's birthdays for today's date. And how odd, having been a little preoccupied with my friend's FB post all morning, that my eyes would zoom in on a quote by William Lyon Phelps, an American educator, journalist and professor, born on January 2, 1865.  I read his quote over and over, mesmerized by his thought-provoking words of wisdom.

The happiest people.  What makes them so?  It's true, what he said.  Lasting and meaningful happiness involves the mind and blossoms most fully when we spend our days immersed in edification  and mental development.  Happiness comes not from what we have, or don't have.  Fortunes or misfortunes.  It comes when we choose to focus on things which bring us joy, conversations and interaction with others, laughter, simple pleasures, the insatiable thirst for knowledge and wisdom and enlightenment.  This makes perfect sense to me.

I think of when I'm reading a good book or a good article of interest.  I'm not focusing on things that happen to be screwed up in my life.  Or when I'm listening to good music, how it makes me feel, that mental escape to my HAPPY place.  Or when I'm captivated in an engaging conversation with a friend or acquaintance or co-worker or colleague.  These are the times I'm happiest.

There will always be that human tendency to slip into the darkness when the sun isn't shining as brightly as we'd like it to.  But shifting the focus, filling our minds with knowledge, taking the time to appreciate the little things around us, taking nothing for granted, listening and dancing to the music, engaging our minds with books and conversations and with others who RAISE US UP.

Too simplistic?  I don't really think so.

The second day of a new year.  Yep.  I'm pretty sure it was meant for me to click onto my ThinkExist bookmark today.  Thank you -- and happy birthday! -- William Lyon Phelps, for calling my attention to this simple lesson about happiness.