"There is no Happiness...

...only happy moments!”

I had enough! Too many social gatherings, too many pseudo-intellectual articles where I have to read and listen to this silly sentence without expressing what I really think of it – enough is enough.

Let’s repeat it together “There is no happiness, only happy moments!” now...what is wrong with this statement?

First, “there is no happiness” an utter fallacy. There is happiness, it is out there: one either pursues it or not (but if one chooses not to go after it, it is improper to affirm that happiness doesn’t exist).

Second, “only happy moments”...this is an admission that there is in fact happiness. For “happy moments” to exist one must be happy at a certain period of time (or several), and if one is happy then; this means that happiness exists (even if one chooses to associate itself with it only for a second, and then go back to be unhappy by choice).

I wonder if some people think, analyse and interpret what they spit onto the air. And what is worse: they make these statements with such propriety, expecting us to fall into utter fascination; to be mesmerised by their brain; repeat their nonsense and spread it like a virus. I observe, I listen, I laugh.

Etiquette forces me into silence. But should I continue to allow it to do so?

We must choose to be happy. But most people have the wrong notion of what being happy means, and then come up with silly antitheses.

Happiness = accepting life as it presents to us.

Happiness is not about smiling all the time; it is not about being effusively festive everyday; it is not about being hurdle-free throughout time and, it is certainly not about having money and possessions.

One may not smile all the time and yet be extremely happy; one may find itself fighting against obstacles from the day it was born until the day it perishes and still be immensely happy; one may not have a dime and still make others wonder how it can be as happy as an Angel.

This represents no mystery. When one understands life, when one comprehends the complexity of existence; when one doesn’t go against the flow of breath; when one accepts the vicissitudes of life as being part of being here; when one accepts oneself then...it is happy all the time.

Buddha said “All is dukkha (suffering, pain)”. At first, this may sound negative; however it isn’t really. This simple sentence is one of the many keys to happiness; for it offers the premise of beingness (we are born – we cry, we suffer; unfulfilled needs – we suffer; frustrations – we suffer; heartbreaks – we suffer; cravings – we suffer; detachment – we suffer; clinging – we suffer; loss – we suffer; misconceptions, misinformation, misleading, untruths, lies – we suffer...) on earth, so that we can avoid adding pain to an already painful existence, and choose being happy to offset it.

Embrace happiness. Don’t reject it. Don’t run away from it. It’s your choice. Your choice.

Image: Fire at Night by Francisco de Goya