Come On Get Happy

Judy Garland was one of many who have sung about it. And it seems society today obsesses about it. Being happy, that is.

The trouble is that despite the apparent fixation on finding happiness in life, a whole lot of people are not ``happy''.

I admit it is something I struggle with. My seeming inability to be happy most of the time makes me rather sad. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot to be grateful for and I have many happy memories and have happy experiences. But I am not constantly in a state of happiness . . . something which I have been given the distinct impression through life that every ``normal'' person should be or at least work towards being.

Is it simply that there is something wrong with my thinking? Have I misunderstood things? Is the world really not so happy-centric? Do I think about it (among other things) too much? It was a small comfort to me to discover recently that Ernest Hemingway once said: ``Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know''.

Or perhaps closer to the truth of the matter is it that most people put on a facade of happiness for the world? I guess we all do that on occasions, for no reason other than it's not pleasant for others if you have a long face. After all, a melancolic demeanour is not conducive to having a thriving social life. But neither is a contrived plastic-looking smile.

I've often been told I don't smile enough. It's probably true. I don't force a smile on my dial. When I smile it's genuine. I actually find a lot to smile about on a daily basis . . . from the simple pleasures in life like a blue sky on a sunny day to my own silliness. I have been told I have a GSOH and I love a good laugh.

What is being happy anyway? It is not easy to define because it is so subjective and there is no sure fix method of attaining it because different things can promote a feeling of happiness within us at any given time. The Macquarie Dictionary defines ``happy'' as ``characterised by or indicative of pleasure, content or gladness''.

There is evidence of strong interest in being ``happy'' and/or connecting with all things ``happy''. Google ``happy'' and there's 816,000,000 results. If you do the same for ``sad'' there's only 294,000,000 results. I suppose it makes sense that there's more demand for feel good ``happy'' things than ``sad'' ones.

Maybe I need to focus more on the ``happy'' things than the ``sad'' things. I do believe that the no-so-good times make you appreciate the good ones even more.

Apologies for the ramble. Finished now. And you've got to be happy about that!