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Happiness is not an illusion to be chased but a belief to be embraced. If we listen to the media today, we can be led to believe that happiness is being sucked out of humans into a vortex of misery that has magically appeared. When an expansive gap between your expectations in life and the realities in your actual life appears, then this is where that vortex of misery that is so commonly talked about can engulf you. Would the simple answer to this therefore be, to expect less and appreciate simplicity more?
Living with Munch over the last 14 months has taught me things about the simplicity of happiness and how easy authentic happiness can be. Dogs and other animals never really question their success, relationship statuses or life goals, they just deal with the here and now. I am not suggesting we all sniff and pee against lampposts but implementing their outlook on life is not such a bizarre idea if we really stop to think about it.
Bouncing around like a lamb in the snow was Munch’s idea of ultimate happiness. No risk assessment, carefully planned itinerary or scheduled time was needed, he just followed his happiness and lolloped straight into it. It resembled the same happiness he gets from playing with any moveable or immovable object, sniffing until his nostrils become numb, sticking his tongue in a stranger’s ear to give his doggy kisses or diving between legs for a doggy hug. The simplicity in his happiness could teach us a lesson or two.
Happiness is not an outside emotion that only a chosen few can have whilst others are forced to suffer. Owning our own emotions regardless of our outside circumstances, is where we really learn to embrace life. When Munch was bounding around in the snow, he felt the natural joy and happiness from within before anyone could witness his outside happy appearance. Finding your own snow to be happy in is just as simple.
When I ask clients when they were last happy, a surprisingly high number really have to stop and think. When we are too busy searching outside ourselves for things to make us happy, we are forgetting about the things that already make us happy. Reconnecting to an old book that you used to love or visiting a favourite old haunt will never cease to bring your innate happiness bubbling back to the surface. Why keep striving when you arrived in the happiness zone years ago.
The Beauty in being Blind is that I have no external point of reference to measure happiness against. I really don’t care what someone looks like, but what I do care about is what makes them happy. When my friend who took Munch’s picture described to me how Munch was loving playing in the snow, my happiness shot off the scale. Finding your own authentic happiness can be as simple as finding your own snow to play in. Just ask Munch.