When you’re happy and you know it...

I used to sing this when I was little. Clap along with gusto too, when the line called for it. When I was a little older, I read that happiness is when you get what you need.

Need. Not want. As economics tells us, they are two different things. But two people can have different degrees of desire for the same thing. I might need to watch a play to slake my soul, while another may merely want to watch one.

Too often, happiness becomes a shifting goalpost. I’ll be happy when I land that job. Or get married. And so on…we rush to a goal, only to find that there’s another that we have just thought of, that we think will make us happier.

Desire is premised on lack. Still, we need to remind ourselves to live in the moment. I love watching the sunset while I’m going back home.  Or writing a poem on it.

Humour is a great source of happiness. People too. Since I work from home a lot, I look forward to going to office and interacting with my colleagues.

Working out is another pleasure. The adrenalin rush I get after running, albeit brief, keeps me going back for more. I get a sense of achievement after pushing myself, and seeing that I’ve lost a hundred grams on my scale. 

A phone-a-thon with my BFF is another way to perk up my day. It feels such a relief to dump my mind rubbish on her broad shoulder’s. Likewise, listening to someone else’s life helps me escape mine for a while.

I’m learning driving, for the nth time, but finally getting the hang of it, so that’s another thrill. Checking Facebook and Twitter out, being part of a global conversation, also makes me feel connected with humanity.

Cooking a fancy meal can also creatively satisfy me sometimes, although definitely not in summer! An impromptu trip, seeing new places and people is a sure mood lifter.

Raindrops on roses…raindrops period- that’s great to soak in sometimes and otherwise watch from my dry balcony. Looking at the leaves get washed, smelling the air then, aah…I’m already feeling nostalgic.

Some people are banks of positivity, so even talking to them over the phone makes me happy. The occasional Starbucks coffee is another reward. How do they get those subtle flavours? Sweet, but not too much?

Unwinding after a long day, watching my favourite TV show with my husband- that’s another must on my To Chill list. Somehow it doesn’t feel so good on the weekend. We need the valleys to give meaning to our hills.

Happiness is in the simple things of life, definitely. No harm in taking the complex ones for a whirl too, once in a while. The trick, as the Gita says, is in non attachment.