Happiness

"Be Happy"

It's a very simple statement, one which is both the easiest and the hardest to achieve.

How do you define Happiness? Is it Joy? Pleasure? The simple act of smiling? Or is it the content one feels with their universe and thus, themselves?

But in order to have this statement told to us, we have to not be happy, i.e. we must not be content with our universe at the time. If something is wrong, should we not be told to solve those? Or does the statement of 'Be Happy' involve the confrontation of personal demons with the optimistic objective of possibly defeating them?

I'll be honest with you, that's one scary challenge. That someone would sentence me to face my own personal demons, to plunge me into a battle that I may not emerge from unscathed. Perhaps I'm overpraising. I've been told I do that a lot. But the truth remains that when a person is sad or unhappy, the simple statement of 'Be Happy' and its derivatives are simply terms used by parties that want to see the other happy, but don't want to get their hands dirty.

I'm sure that this has happened in your life, you've seen someone sad, someone who is down on their luck. You are concerned, you want that person to be happy, but you aren't willing to stake your own happiness, brain power and time to help that person reach that point. So you smile at them and say something as simple as, "Be Happy".

Now think for a second. If this person is someone that you actually care about, someone whose well-being is a concern (maybe a minor concern, but still) then is it not worth your time to see how to make them feel better?

Again, no one should feel compelled to be an agony aunt. That is a sad and pathetic solution to very complex emotions. Be there for people when they want to talk, but you know what is the best thing to share? Happiness. All you have to do is find a connection. With a friend you’re bound to have one or two connections, simply cast that line and try and make them feel better. If they shrug off that line, they will never say that you never tried and you can say "Be Happy" knowing that you tried to share Happiness and didn't get a response. It's better to have tried and failed than to never have tried at all.

Even someone who seems gloomier than death himself has that spark of Happiness. Gauge them like a Lion assesses prey. See if they are open to outside help, if they are, grab a bunch of mutual friends and yank that bastard out of their sadness. See if they respond to certain things, if you know the person well enough, maybe you can suggest going for a movie or doing something with them that makes them feel better on a much more personal level. Turn that spark into a roaring fire of Happiness.

The fire may simply burn out; it might even carry that person into the next week. But the important thing is that you helped that person, someone that you care about, get away from their problems for the slightest bit of time.

It's a bit tough, but if you actually start looking at 'friends' and think to yourself, do I actually care about this person’s happiness? You'll get rid of the crap friends you have, and emerge with friends that you'd do anything to see them happy, even for a minute.

Happiness is a hard commodity to come across. So when you are happy, you can share it. But when others aren't happy, your tiny spark of enthusiasm can be all they need to get on their feet and push through the rest of the day.

"Be Happy" is such a pathetic concept. Cause it doesn't DO anything. It might actually make the person drop deeper into sadness as they can't get to the level of happiness that they want to reach.

Sad or unhappy people can be screwballs, but it's important to TRY to make them realize their own internal happiness rather than simply PUSH your own external happiness on them.

Try it out; I'm sure you'll get 'Happy' results!