The Keys To Happiness

I had an epiphany the other day. It was about what makes us happy, or rather why many of us are not happy. I have an aunt, and well to put it nicely she is a miserable person. Every time I see her she seams to be in a bad mood. She always seems unhappy, and frankly to be around her makes others unhappy. You can almost smell the stress that she puts herself under. I always wondered why she is like that, and then it hit me. Everything to her is symbolic in the sense that everything means, well everything to her. She has made a schedual for everything. For instance she has a strict guideline in when and how the house is supposed to be cleaned. It must be vacuumed every monday, wednesday and friday. Everything has to be in a certain spot. Hell even the toilet paper has to be hung a certain way. If not she gets upset, and will get angry at the person who "caused the mess". And no she is not OCD, because when she wants to let things be messy she will let them. But when she is in her mood, it has to be that way. The reason, because she wants to be seen as the perfect homemaker. She revels in it because she will chatter about another persons home where she visited and things were out of place, at least in her mind. All that cleaning and what not are just steps into realizing this end, and if one is out of place she feels a failure. The same is true with other things in her life, dinner parties, education, even playing a game of cards, all these things mean more than what they are, they are symbolic of ultamate victory.

That is the point, when everything becomes of utmost importance, nothing has any real value. The small things, the big things all are equal. In a way it follows the law of supply and demand, the more of something there is the less it's value. So when everything is of high symbolic value, the true value of everything is really very low. I think subconsciencely we all know that. and because if that, that low value of everything, we feel unfulfilled.

The truth of the matter is that yes, there are things of great value in life, and those we should go after. Those things include living well, having good relationships, having a clean conscience, being a good person. But all these things are in general, not specifics. When we catagorize these, and symbolize even mundane things into representing them, we lose sight of the higher goal.

The key to this, and perhaps the key to happiness itself, is simplicity. I have said before that this society over complicates our lives. We would be better off living a simple life, working hard for a few personal goals, not sweating the little things. I would gladly sacrifice the luxeries for that.

I guess we just all have to remember that those little things don't mean the world, but sitting down and enjoying the little things just may.