Happiness is the state of being happy. Sadness is the state of being sad. The english language really couldn't get any simpler than that. We have happiness when we are happy, therefore I have happiness when I look out the window and see snow on the ground for this first time. We have sadness when we are sad, therefore I cry every time I watch The Titanic.
This simple concept is something that lives in every human being, and I could even say that it exists in all mammals. We've grown over the years to associate things that bring happiness and things that bring sadness. We do this without hesitation, it is an instinctual feeling one gets that makes one decide whether he is happy or sad. Because this instinct has developed amongst human beings, I have never once stopped myself and asked the simplest question: What is happiness?
Many would answer, " Oh it's a time when you are happy. Yeah that's happiness." I am ashamed to say that a few days ago I would have said the exact same thing. However, it wasn't until one day in english class that I realized I was wrong. I don't know what happiness is. I don't know how it is achieved. Therefore, I question myself, do I have happiness?
In the book Sophie's World, the philosopher talks to Sophie about Hellenistic Philosophy and the history behind it. The things that struck me were located on the last two lines of the page. It mentions how "the main emphasis of this [philosophy] was on finding out what true happiness was and how it could be achieved." I couldn't believe that a concept so simple was something that philosophers had to question. It seriously blew my mind.
Out of pure curiosity, I went home and opened my computer and googled happiness. I asked for its definition and how it could be obtained. I was disappointed to find that every answer was the same. Happiness was just as I thought it had been. It was obtained when one is happy and its definition is the state of being happy. So if the answer was so obvious, why would any one try to question it? What was I missing from this understanding?
I found myself quickly typing in the words Urban Dictionary into the google search bar. I clicked on the linked and typed in happiness. I pressed enter and waited for it to load. As I read through pages and pages of the definition of happiness, I found a certain pattern to the answers. Page one consisted of the definition that we all know by heart; if your happy you have happiness. However, and I got to the next few pages I saw the definitions start to change. The amazing thing about this was that these definitions were not what may be "correct" to most of society, but these answers were correct to the person writing it. That is the whole magic to Urban Dictionary. It is your own definition, it is your own interpretation.
Even though these interpretations many not be mine, or yours, we can still find connections to one or many different interpretations. Yes, I believe a plateful of bacon is happiness. To a vegetarian that may not be true. Yes, I believe happiness is the night I don't have to do homework. To that crazy student whom I have not met yet, that may not be true. But the one interpretation that that not only changed my mind on happiness and helped me answer these simple and easy questions was located right on the first page.
"Happiness, the greatest gift I possess."
Instead of asking the questions what and how, why not ask the questions who and where. You are happiness. I am happiness. You have happiness within you. I have happiness within me. We both have this special gift that we can call our own. We can do whatever we want with this gift. We can decide to hide it and store it in a place where no one can see it, or we can decide to show it and not let anything to stop it from shining.
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