Happiness

Around the holiday season, one of the words that is on everyone’s mind is “happiness.” I’m trying to imagine what it would be like to walk around with this face 24/7; it would not only exhaust me, but it would exhaust everyone else around me. Furthermore, imagine the world where everyone is walking around with a face like this. If everyone were happy, no one would be. No one would even come up with a word like “happiness.”

A friend of mine from Venezuela told me that no one there appreciates good weather because they have good weather every day. He found it funny that New Yorkers come out to parks during lunch hours when the weather is nice. It’s like this; to be permanently happy is to be devoid of the concept of happiness. You are neither happy nor unhappy.

So, wishing someone unhappiness is in essence the same as wishing him happiness, for the latter would not be possible without the former, which means that wishing happiness is rather pointless.

This reminds me of the classic Taoist tale: One day this farmer’s horse runs away, his neighbor says to him, “I’m sorry to hear that you lost your horse.” “Well, who knows what’s good and bad?” says the farmer. The next day, the farmer’s horse returns to his stable, and it has brought along another horse. The neighbor congratulates the farmer, but he replies, “Who knows what’s good and bad?” The next day, the farmer’s son rides the new wild horse, gets thrown off of the horse, and breaks his leg. Their neighbor offers condolences, but the farmer once again says, “Who knows what’s good and bad.” On the following day, his son gets drafted to the army, but he is excused because of his broken leg. The story goes on forever in this manner.

—posted by Dyske   » Follow me on Twitter or on Facebook Page