Happiness

I suppose the concept of happiness has somewhat tended to elude me. People speak of happiness as if it were something to be "fought for". And yet the same event can evoke different sorts of happiness in different types of people.

And so I suppose then happiness is not something tangible that can be "attained". It has to come from within. There is the delirium that comes from a chemical-driven happiness. Alcohol and drugs are known to evoke that sort of pleasure. Yet, I find it difficult to find that sort of enjoyment "happiness" per se. It is fleeting, and ever-so-dependent upon those chemical triggers.

Then you talk about friends and how they make you happy. Yet, friends are also fleeting. They have their own paths to walk, and it's precious enough if they slowed down even for a while to spend time with you. There is a bittersweet sort of happiness and pain that mixes together everytime you make friends. That sort of expectation that one day, they are going to walk away from you. That desire then to make the time you have worthwhile. So that perhaps, when they think back to the time spent together, it brings a smile to their face.

It's a very different sort of happiness--these two instances that I am describing. And yet they get lumped together into being one and the same category. Some might then ask why it matters that we share the same sort of definitions. But you see, it does matter.

When I say that I consider you a "friend," it can potentially span from Facebook-acquaintances all the way to someone I can wholly and thoroughly trust. I often mean the latter, but what is to stop the other person from assuming the former? That leads to a lot of mis-matched expectations--which really doesn't bode well for the relationship.

Ah... I really can't see an end to this post. I shall stop here then.