Happiness in a Bottle

What is happiness? This is a question that can have a multitude of answers depending on who you ask. The whole idea of happiness kind of perplexes me. Is happiness something that can truly be found in any tangible sense?

Many people say or think that they will be happy if they only have, gain, or achieve something in their lives. Can happiness truly be found in this manner? Once we have, gain, or achieve that thing, isn’t there always the next thing? I have heard statements such as “I will be happy when I find Mr. or Mrs. Right,” or “I will be happy once I finally get this job,” or “I will be happier if I live there.” The statements could truly go on and on.

Are these ideas just an outworking of our consumer culture, that somehow our happiness is something that we should seek to obtain “out there” somewhere? Doesn’t it seem that the North American consumer culture is just creating a less happy and stressed out society. Have we deluded ourselves into believing that we will be happy when we achieve, buy, move, find, etc.

Isn’t happiness just something we either “are” or “aren’t?” Do we not choose to be happy or unhappy, despite what we may have, whom we may be with, where we may live, etc.? Maybe happiness finds us…when we stop looking for it. I’m not saying that we give up on the idea of being “happy.” We can be happy; it is just that nothing outside of ourselves will make us happy. Maybe we need to stop looking for happiness and just be happy…

What if?

I was thinking about the “what if” questions we often ask ourselves. Usually it relates to things that would probably never happen like winning the lottery, never growing old, being a celebrity, etc. I was actually thinking about how our world might be different if we followed through on some “what if” questions. Some of these questions might be:

- What if wealth was a measure of how much you give rather than how much you receive or have?
- What if corporations served the best interest of the people rather than the people serving the best interest of the corporation?
- What if our country chooses to return violence with love and compassion?
- What if we all choose to do what’s right instead of “being right?”
- What if we spend money on medical research instead of weapons research?
- What if we choose to “bailout” the poor instead of the rich?
- What if we all stopped using love like a commodity?
- What if we all treat others like we would want them to treat us?
- What if we all lived within our means?
- What if we all stopped shopping and started sharing?
- What if….

Obviously this list could go on and on, but just think how different our world would be if we actually followed through on these types of questions.

Mac vs PC

...and I thought they had called a truce.

Jealous Lover

I heard these two words used together recently and I was immediately struck by the irony of such a pairing. When you think about it, the two words can’t exist together in harmony. True love does not exhibit jealousy, so how can one truly be a jealous lover (assuming “lover” is defined as one who loves another, rather than someone you just sleep with)?

Jealousy is one of the ultimate expressions of selfishness. Jealousy is not taking into consideration what is best for the other person; it is only concerned with self-interest. When we love someone, we will always put his or her best interests above our own. Jealousy is like a roadblock in the expression and experience of true love. Can jealousy and love truly coexist? In their truest forms…I don’t think they can.

The Gay Marriage Debate

While I know that this debate is largely over in Canada, it is very much alive and well in the United States. The reason I was thinking about this today was because of an interview Jon Stewart did the other night on the Daily Show.

This issue really stirs up a lot of emotions in me and I get very frustrated when I see what often amounts to ignorance. It seems to me that the main issue in this debate is about how people view homosexuality. What I mean by this is, whether or not people believe that being gay is a choice or not. I can understand the argument against gay marriage if being gay is a choice, but the reality is that there is not a choice…at least not in ones sexual orientation. Being gay is no more of a choice than, say, the colour of your skin or your sex. We would not tolerate the idea of banning interracial marriage, so how is this really that different when you look at it in light of human rights.

In the States, the religious have been the largest opponents to the legalization of gay marriage. Their biggest arguments come from the Bible, but there some problems with their arguments. First, not all Christians agree on what the Bible actually says about homosexuality. Second, there is suppose to be separation of church and state and therefore religious views should not dictate public policy. Third, as Jon Stewart mentions in the interview, they don’t want the biblical definition of marriage changed, but the definition of marriage has not been static and definitely has not always been a sacred union between one man and one woman.

I will leave this topic at that for now, but I definitely have more to say on this topic. So, I will leave that for another post.

Thoughts on Turning 30

Now that my 30th birthday has come and passed, I have had some time to reflect back on the last 30 years of my life. To be honest, I was not looking forward to the big 3-0. It wasn’t that I thought my life was going to change radically the day I turned 30. Rather, I think it was more of the psychological aspect of not being able to say I was in my twenties and therefore being “old.” As I think about it now, we don’t have to grow old. Yes, our bodies will age, but we can always stay young at heart. We can choose to dwell on the aging of our bodies or we can choose enjoy everything this life has to offer. We can choose to always stop and smell the roses (or even roll in the roses for that matter) along the journey of life or we can trample blindly through them in our self-pity and bitterness. I hope I will always choose to roll through the roses.

As I think back on the last 30 years of my life, I realize I really have no regrets. Yes, there are things I haven’t accomplished and I am not really in a place I thought I would be at this age, but I have learned so much and I have been so blessed. While the journey thus far has had its fair share of ups and downs, overall it has been good. I did think that I would be married, maybe have children, and be finished my schooling by this time, but that isn’t what was meant for me in my first 30 years. I know there are great things to come and I am honestly looking forward to what the future holds. So to all of you who have not yet reached the big 3-0, it isn’t so bad. It is just the end of one chapter of life and the beginning of a new and exciting chapter in this great journey we call life.

Koala Bears, Dolphins, Jizz, and More.

These are some interesting, if not amusing, facts, followed by an SNL short.

- Did you know that female koala bears have two vaginas and male koala bears have a forked penis?

- Did you know that if the population of China walked past you in single file, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction?

- Did you know that China has more English speakers than the United States?

- Did you know that when you lick a stamp you consume 1/10th of a calorie?

- Did you know that a ducks quack doesn’t echo?

- Did you know that men leave their hotel rooms cleaner than women do?

- Did you know that 35% of people who use personal ads for dating are already married?

- Did you know that dolphins might not be as nice as we think? There is evidence that they are mass-murdering psycho’s who often kidnap and gang rape female dolphins. I guess I won’t be swimming with dolphins anytime soon.

- Finally, an SNL short that I thought was pretty funny.