The Intro to Happiness

“If you observe a really happy man you will find him building a boat, writing a symphony, educating his son, growing double dahlias in his garden. He will not be searching for happiness as if it were a collar button that has rolled under the radiator.” This quote from W. B. Wolfe on the second page of the book sums up what I took from the introduction quite nicely.

The introduction served as a good reminder that happiness is created out of the sum of what is happening within my life. Equally important, a lack of happiness can often be traced back to a set of choices that I am making poorly, or not making at all.

After reading both the introduction and the first chapter I decided to put what I had read into practice. I had been having some nagging frustrations over the past few days that have been negatively affecting my happiness. It only took me a few moments to pinpoint what was bothering me. I had been lethargic about cleaning up the last few days, and the house was starting to show it, and my fiancée and I had been grating on each other over the past few days. After some consideration, I concluded that the issue between us was that we were both so busy the last few days that she was lacking her physical need for sleep, and we were both missing out on fun and freedom.

I decided that I was going to let her take a nap, and I would surprise her with a clean house when she woke up. Because cleaning was going to be a surprise for her, it became fun for me. And to put an end to a long story, I feel much happier now than earlier today.

I’m also noticing that the author’s initial words, about how uncouth it is to talk about happiness, have been ringing true. Reading over this post I feel like I sound like an advertisement.

I wasn’t quite sure whether we were to be reading the introduction, and the first chapter, or just the introduction. I chose to read, and write, on both in order to be on the safe side.