Monday, June 22, 2009

Happiness in a pair of shoes!?

What shoes are you wearing when you look at yourself and think, "I'm happy"? Mine are a pair of beautiful, black pumps with hot pink soles with heels so high they make my legs look like I'm 8 feet tall. Well, I don't own a pair of shoes like that. I own black pumps, but just slightly more ordinary ones. Sometimes I want the clothes and the shoes of an executive that looks so smart that walk into a fantastic house each night for dinner in an awesome kitchen. Other days I want to be in a pair of comfortable flats eating a bowl of cereal while looking through a magazine. 

Which makes me happy? Hubby said I'm so conflicted between the two worlds because he said I can be happy in both. I never really thought of that before. Most people aren't happy because they tell themselves they aren't happy. Do we really truly have that much power over ourselves. Well, I do not have a medical degree, but I believe we do have that power.  Too bad it took someone else to point it out to me. 

I am surrounded by young, driven, fun people, yet how many of us are truly happy? I think we are to some degree, but why stop there? We could all be so much happier if instead of posting facebook messages and tweets about how terrible our lives are, we all started tweeting about all the good things in life? 

Today I had the opportunity to play a violin for a while. I took lessons for year as a kid, the suzuki style where you learn by ear instead of reading music. I played Twinkle Twinkle Little Star! I still remember it after all these years. And I played it in like 6 different ways - little staccato notes and longer notes. It was fun! Even more, I like how the wikipedia page describes the Suzuki method "an educational philosophy which strives to create "high ability" and beautiful character in its students through a nurturing environment". That's so funny to me now! For 5 minutes, I was 6 again! 

Maybe tomorrow I'll shoot for 7. I have lots of happy memories of that age! 

1 comment:

  1. ... I google searched "most people aren't happy because" to see what other people think causes unhappiness. Shoes - I helped a woman move a few years ago - she had boxes and boxes of shoes. One of her relatives commented that she could literally wear a different pair of shoes each day of the year. Why does she have so many shoes? Happiness. She has been trying to soothe that ache for happiness with a new shoe. I've been thinking lately that most people are on a track they are hoping will lead them further up. Up where you ask? I think most people don't know. They don't have specific goals, that will determine their happiness, so once they achieve one thing, they are happy for a moment and then they get a new goal in mind and they lose the happiness they were, moments before, so contented with. Most people are aware of the fact that they have less than they would like and so they are disappointed with their lot in life. A person can have great friends and little money... or no friends and a lot of money. I'd think that the person with friends would be happier, and some of them are, but most people reject the things, people and places around them that could/should leave them happy and thankful in exchange for a focus on what is missing... they see that they could have more and even that the people, places and things around them could be more... be more this, or that, or do more ...and so they devalue the good in what is around them. I've known people who don't compare themselves to others and don't care about measuring themselves by the standards set by the media, or their community - they live free of that sort of goal setting.

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