This I Know.

I had a 1.5 hour talk today with a man who took a year away from life and work to study the word "happiness."  In three words I can describe the choices that most influence a person's ability to get and stay there, based on both his studying and my observations (which readily agreed with each other):

Perspective

Environment

Passion

There was no talk of it being easy, nor were there claims that all could get there. For example, someone in a terribly tragic life without the ability to change it (someone in a concentration camp, for example) would have a significantly less likelihood of achieving the same level of happiness as someone without those experiences and restrictions (like someone today who travels the world as a nurse to help every victim of a natural disaster), though it is still possible.

But as we've all heard the stories of those raped/beaten/tortured/abused and left to die, it can end well.  It only takes everything you've got to change the way you see the world (perspective), change who and what you surround yourself with (environment), and try every waking moment with an undying thirst to get to where you want to be (passion).  Maybe the situation currently surrounding a person isn't one that can be helped, but changing the way that person thinks irrevocably changes their course, for better or worse.

And, as much as I enjoy my life, I readily realize and admit that the distance between me and a fuller happiness is directly related to my effort in closing the gap.  I am not an amazing swimmer because I don't put forth the effort of one.  I'm not as passionate about my goals as I am about getting 8 hours of sleep every night.  I'm not surrounded by top notch people because I haven't put in the time to make that so.  But I do see who I want to be, and I do try.  And for those things, I am grateful.

Some days I hope for the passion to drive harder towards what makes me happy.  But I know that hope, like self-pity and self-victimization, won't get me there; I have to make the decision to commit to it.  I have to want it.

Michael Jordan was cut from his first basketball team.  Thomas Edison found 10,000 ways that didn't work.  Lincoln faced a cracked nation and a divided government.  But the common factor of the success of all three is the decision to commit.  Persistence in the face of adversity has and will continue to bring people otherwise discounted to the top of what they pursue.

So this, the first post to this blog in ages, asks: what do you really, honestly want, and what are you willing to do to get it?

This may read like it's about success and not happiness, but I ask: is there a greater measure of true success than happiness?

Quote of the Day:

"It's simple, it's just not easy."  -  many.