Happiness

This morning I listened to this podcast of This American Life called Held Hostage. I am loving the show more and more, but was particularly fascinated by the Third Act (starts at about 47:40) of this one, about a man who is essentially paralyzed by feelings of joy, excitement and love. (You'll have to listen to it to completely understand).

The reporter, however, highlights an incredibly important truth. The man tries to cope by avoiding feelings of joy and happiness, but he finds it completely impossible. Happiness always appears. I think we all find ourselves in situations where we feel that there is absolutely nothing that could possibly make us happy, but to realize that this individual - in the exact opposite position of wishing he could avoid happiness at whatever cost - finds himself unable to avoid things that make him happy. Perhaps if we all had something as dramatic as paralysis to mark every positive moment, we would realize how happy we really are...