"Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in depth."
-Robert Frost

What is the nature of happiness? I think there is a confusion between happiness, and
contentment, in that it is commonly believed that happiness is having things, (be they material, or
love/friendship oriented) that you believe you want. Instead, happiness is not the same as the
achievement of goals, or the attainment of love, or the acquisition of goods; it is the gulf between reality and your expectations.

Whenever you get exactly what you expect, you will not be happy; you will be content. Human
happiness is the pulling of greatness out of mediocrity, and beauty out of ashes. It's dangerous
uncertainty turning into comfortable goodness.

Happiness is good natured chaos.

Let's take a delicious mug of hot cocoa, for example. Mmm. Cocoa. Tasty.

Situation A: You're in the mood for hot cocoa. You put on some hot water, put the mix in the
cup, wait until the water boils, and you've got some cocoa. It's pretty tasty. You are certainly
satisfied with the result, and even made content, but it's not exactly a state of happiness.

Situation B: Oh, man, it's cold outside. You've been shoveling the driveway for the past two
hours, and when you get in, all you want to do is collapse. But, Lo and Behold! When you get
into the house, there's a big steaming mug of cocoa waiting on the kitchen table! Is it for you?
Why yes, your mom tells you, it is. Mmm. Now THAT'S happiness. A more dramatic example
could be obtained using a king and a beggar, if I might be allowed to get all archaic on your
modern asses.

Situation A: The king comes home to his luxurious 200-room palace, enjoys a 12-course meal
prepared by the finest chefs in the land, frolics with one of his numerous mistresses and has an
after dinner nightcap of the finest brandy. The king is content with his average night, but not
particularly happy; greater things weigh upon his mind.

Situation B: A traveler, in an unusually generous mood, throws a silver coin to a beggar. The
beggar spends his coin to get a room at the humble local inn, a hearty meal, and a mug of ale.
The beggar is overjoyed and overwhelmed by happiness.

Think back on your happiest moments, the times of your life where you where most euphoric,
most psyched, most totally enthused. Now, discard the times you were drunk and/or under the
influence of other "magic" chemicals. Hopefully, you should still have some good times left.
Now, compare what your expectations were for those happy situations to what actually
happened, and you'll probably find a lot of joy stemmed from things going right that you didn't
expect to go right, or even exist in the first place. Euphoria thrives on the unexpected bonus;
anyone who's found a dollar on the ground can tell you that the amount of happiness finding a
dollar on the ground far outweighs the amount of happiness you would have gotten from getting
a dollar allowance, or earning a dollar at work, or winning a dollar playing darts against
someone you knew you could beat before you started the game.

Happiness is beating the odds. It's falling in love with someone that you think could never even
be troubled to notice you, and finding out that they feel the same for you as you do for them. It's
unexpected flowers, the right song on the radio, your least favorite acquaintance publicly
humiliating him or herself in an unexpected fashion. To know ecstasy, we must also know
uncertainty; to give out pure joy, the world needs to exceed our expectations.

So, when you go into the world, keep your goals high, and your expectations modest.
Somewhere in between lies something positive.
 
 
 

Original Site:      http://www.itis.com/~wonko/kiwi/jim/essays/eshap.htm