SOMEBODY STRUM THAT HAPPINESS STRING

(Third of short series)

Oh I don't know if that title there is apt for this writing. But there's something in that phrase that attracted my attention. Get a load of this....

A person is like a 8-stringed guitar or maybe more. Each string or chord representing an emotion in the heart. So when one emotion surfaces, it means that a chord or string had been strummed. When the loneliness chord plays, you're found to be lonely. When you're furious, someone plucked on your angry chord. 'Think that's corny? lols I think that's cute.

Right now, the sorrow chord is on an extended run -- I mean 'strum' --for me. I'm not complaining. That's okay; emotions have to run its full course. But I do want to make a tiny request to Somebody up there.... Please strum that happiness string for me too?! Because if this goes on and on I might forget what it's like to be happy again. lol

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Inside a passenger jeep this afternoon, I sat opposite two women -- one young in her twenties and the other much older... maybe about forty-ish. Luckily I had my dark shades on ...to camouflage my interest in people watching.

Let's start with the younger one. Pinay features, dark skin, long hair, slim. What struck me about her was her face -- far-away look, eyes looking yet not seeing, mouth set on a weak thin line.. I could sense a burden lurking somewhere there in her brain which dropped down to her face in a veil of anxiety over her eyes. The vivacity of youth appeared to have drained out of her... she looked so old before her time.

The much older woman who sat beside her was something else. Same Pinay features, lines etched on her round face, lips seemingly ready to break into a quick smile, short cropped hair, on the heavy side. But she stood out with her aura of peace and tranquility sitting there watching with interest the scene outside as the jeep went past. She was a sight to see -- content and serene, probably happy too. It's noticeable in the eyes.

The Eyes -- the window of a person's soul. Tells all, bares all.

Oops! gotta go. Be back later.
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Back!

Hm mm.. will be going on a short trip to Pangasinan next week. A close friend invited me there.. for a stroll down the shore, quiet moments with the sunset, the feel of the sea under your feet, the wisp of sea air on your face... and the goodies galore at the market place. lols Unfortunately, I'm not a market person.. more of a nature person. So the first options there will be on my agenda, that's for sure.
How long ago was it since my last frolic on the beach? That long ago??! Ugh! what a crime! Well, need to go back to my favorite place -- that spot where the sea touch the shore.... where whatever name I write on the sand, the sea wipes away with just one sweep.... where good ole Sol writes her name on the water surface with one golden streak (Ha! this one the sea can't delete).... --- where the sea wraps itself around my soul.

Is somebody strumming my happiness chord?

Back later in the day for more. Ciao for now!
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What's one supposed to say when you're asked this question.... 'are you happy?' I'll tell you what, you don't say yes or no. Rather look into that person's eyes and say 'are you?'


I don't equate happiness with externalities.. though we most often do. You see, if you build your happiness on these external causes.. you will soon discover that it's superficiality and won't last you longer than it should or want it to be. Happiness over a new pair of shoes or a stylish dress or an arty accessory --- these skin-deep things come and go fleetingly. And when they do you're back to where you started.... unhappy and discontent.

The happy things which linger longer in the heart at its core are those things which touch your life with genuine meaning cause and purpose. It could be things, events, experiences, or people. Having interacted with any of those and coming out of it fully sated and fulfilled makes for the true and genuine meaning of Happiness.

So when caught in its midst with the same question 'Happy?'
I'd say 'Yes, oh Yes!'. Thank God for that.

Will be back later for more. Bye for a bit!
Got Chef Angelo's pizza waiting for me lols

STOP AWHILE TO ENJOY HAPPINESS

Let’s try something which many of us tend to overlook. Think about this… don’t we often complain how unhappy we are – how miserable, gloomy, forlorn, sad, wretched, heartbroken, hopeless, or bleak life is? Well, I do. Yeah, maybe it’s normal and everybody goes through something like that sometime. But...

Imagine yourself going about your day with a long face or a boring expression or with a lifeless look in your eyes… and… your feet feeling like a ton of bricks. Have you noticed too how you are affecting those around you or people who happen to cross your path in that day? Notice what comes out of your mouth when you talk – negative static and unenthusiastic talk? Sense people slowly steer themselves away from you or put in a marked distance between you and them?

Unhappiness causes all that. But unhappiness is not the cause of your feeling that way. You don’t say that you are that way because you are unhappy. But rather that you are unhappy because something going on is not right with you or in your life and this in turn is causing you some misery.

That something may be failed expectations, disappointments, loss, grief, broken promises, betrayals, or even a status quo where you had hoped there would be some movement or progress.

But it’s not healthy.

The thing that we should note is that we have full control over it. Two things we can do --- one is to stay or wallow in misery and the other is… to decide to pluck some bits of joy in our midst or from within ourselves.

Life does not offer us a basket of difficulties alone believed by most of us. But it offers us a good mix of both joy and sorrow. It’s right there in the same basket. All that we must do is learn to do some picking for stuff which would make us happy. You’ll be surprised to know that often those things are the trivial bits around us which we often ignore or neglect –

a lovely sunrise, a poignant sunset, the cool drops of rain, intriguing cloud formations, the deep blue skies, a bud transformed into a beautiful flower, a statuesque tree silhouetted against the sky, tree tops dancing in the wind, gurgling waters flowing merrily down the stream, a baby’s small fingers clutching your thumb, the deeply lined face of a bent elderly woman smiling at you, the gentle hearts of good friends, the love of your family, the adoring eyes of your sweetheart, a rainbow in the sky, or God’s treasure of blessings pouring down into your day and life -- And many more.

Have you ever stopped to enjoy these things? There is no reason to be unhappy for long. Maybe you will for awhile as the unpleasantness of that something is touching your life, but not for long because you can change your attitude towards it and turn your negative feelings into one of wise tolerance and acceptance and understanding. This will help you see things in a much better light and even feel appreciation for the presence of good and better things in the midst of misery. Happiness therefore is already there for your easy picking, if you would only stop awhile to see it and enjoy it.

Plenty of people miss their share of happiness,
not because they never found it,
but because they didn’t stop to enjoy it.

–William Feather