How would you know what happy is if you’ve never been otherwise. – Malcolm S. Forbes
There are homeless everywhere. These hungry people are in Denver, Colorado. They’re probably below a 1 on your scale. How would it help you feel, if you were willing and able to help them?
What does that mean?
This is an interesting quote. On a scale of one to ten, how happy are you? Now define what a 10 means to you, and what a 1 means to you. Do you see how your points of reference can be part of the equation? How can you know how good a 7 can be, when the lowest you’ve ever been is a 5?
Put another way, if you had always been happy, how would you know just how happy you were? Wouldn’t happy become normal, and you become discontented, longing for more happiness? By having a rich and vibrant life, with a wide range of experiences, you can fill out the scale, right?
This is, to me, what the quote is saying. How much can you enjoy the ‘good life’ if you’ve never been down and out? If you’ve been through life’s highs and lows, you can better appreciate the good times, because you’ve already suffered through the rough ones.
Why is perspective important?
What do you see in the world? Is it mostly a good place, with a few rough spots? Or is it a sewer hole, full of crap and misery, with the occasional bright spot? It probably depends on how far up or down the scale you think yourself to be most days.
If you spend most of your time looking for misery, your brain will get really good at finding it and identifying it for you to observe. Your perspective will have been warped by your focus. Similarly, if all you are ever looking for is the best of the world, the things that don’t fit your perspective will fade out, and you’ll not notice the rough spots as much.
While I believe in looking for the best in people, I also realize that there is a bit of realism that must be maintained. Still, looking for the best in life in general, while good for lifting the spirits, should be tempered with some observation of those who are farther down the scale. The perspective helps not only define where ‘happiness’ is on your chart, it helps develop a feeling of compassion for those farther down the chart.
Where can I apply this in my life?
As mentioned in the prior paragraph, I think it’s important to focus mainly on the good things in life, for the sake of our own motivation and spirit. I also believe that we should be temper our perspective with some observations of those less fortunate or who are down on their luck.
What I would recommend is to spend most of your day trying to avoid negativity and things that lower your perspective. The idea is to try to focus on the good things, the things that make it easy to feel happy. In this way, we can (hopefully) feel like we’re fairly high up on the scale.
There is no lack of opportunity to get the other side of life. There will be plenty of focus in the evening news on the things that are wrong with our world. They will focus on the things lower on the lower end of the scale for us.
Our focus and our perspective will only help us so much. Life has a way of bringing us down from time to time. Additionally, it will be hard to completely avoid seeing or experiencing anything from the lower end of the happiness scale.
That can change your perspective quite rapidly, and it will likely change what you focus on as well. These are natural occurences, and part of living life. While I won’t say you should enjoy the experience, do take note of it, and how it feels. That way, the next time you get on the good end of the happiness scale, you remember how much nicer things are now than they were back then.
In addition to what life does to bring the less pleasant things to you, sometimes there is an urge to help someone who is lower on the happiness scale than you ever wish to be. Helping them to move up the scale, even a little bit, can help you feel happier.
These times are not always ‘happy’ in the traditional sense, but perhaps joyful might be a better word. You are glad to be able to help, and you know they are appreciative of the assistance, even if grudgingly. These can be very rewarding experiences, as you get to both experience the low end of the scale, as well as the upper end.
Live your life fully, and take in all it has to offer. Live the highs and the lows. And try to remember that we control how happy we are. Mind your focus and your perspective, and reach deep inside to find your happiness.
May hour happiness always be above average! (that’s a math joke)
From: Twitter, @_inspirational_
confirmed at : http://www.happyhalfway.com/quotes-about-happiness.html 5th under the first “happiness” bar.
Photo by Jeffrey Beall
