Happiness, the Roller Coaster
Published: Jan 21, 2015
You are on a roller coaster, anticipating as you climb the hill with horrid fears, slowly panicking. What if I fall out? What if the engine stops? What if I’m dangling? Do I have my phone on me?! These fears seem negligible when you climb off the ride, exhilarated from the kinetics, but absolutely happy to be on the ground.
Phew, that was fun.
I would consider myself a very happy person, logical in thought, but creative in mind, as I try to live each day to my full potential. I have learned that our lives are roller coasters, each hill different, some the same, and some completely unexpected. The world population often mirrors these rides, voicing the climbs more than the descents, the hardships more than the miracles. Stress is often over shot, money is well rated, but rarely well spent, and excitement over material possessions fade. We worry, we strain, and we give ourselves and others around us pressure we should not. We do this in fear, but fear of what? Fear of the potential entropy, chaos, which naturally exists, constantly hanging over our heads like a one ton weight. That weight, however, has yet to crush us. We are Atlas, holding up the world as we each, individually, struggle to make it clear. So why the struggle… we are strong enough.
Art originally from pixgood.com redrawn in b&w
We, together, are strong. Instead of guiding through our lives like people who walk on raw eggs pretending they will never break, we should live in confidence. Confidence that the next person that comes your way views you in the same way as them: a teammate. We are all occupying this Earth together, right now, this very second, for a reason. A reason maybe unknown to us, but absolutely essential.
While I could sit here and preach about how that weight will be lifted, Utopia will be reached, and time will slow, I cannot, as these things are unattainable, unachievable. But what I can say is that happiness is not a cover, nor is it impossible, as people incorrectly view its curve as a parabola: peaking and leaving just as it came.
It was once said that people look forward to being happy so much that they actually are happier in the moment right before than they are in the moment of happiness. As we all know from riding a roller coaster, once the hill has been overcome, we cannot revert back, just forward as we look towards the next climb, the next peak. Most humans are always in search of the next big thing, the next coaster, the next ride, while others are letting out a sigh, realizing the moment is in the present.
No one ever said why the present is called the present, but I know it well. The present is the present because it is a gift. A gift given to the wise, the dumb, the clueless, and the mighty. A gift presented in the form of years, days, or even hours. A gift that cannot be regifted, as it is only given once.
Happiness is not a series of events, positive in timing, beneficial to finance, favorable in status. Happiness is a way of life, a method of manner, and a routine that is learned, practiced, and perfected through progress. Happiness is the only solution to crime, to poverty, to illness. As I was taught in school that differential equations are the only reason humanity still thrives, it is similar that happiness is the absolute reason humanity still survives. Many people strive to thrive, but there are still people striving to survive.
Happiness is the only thing on this planet that can be regenerated without loss of potential, can be given out infinitely, and can be redirected and reflected through a smile, laugh, or glance. Happiness is free, universal, and able to cross country boundaries and language barriers. Happiness can be started by one, spread by thousands just like the plague: a positive plague.
Today, I give you hope for happiness and encourage you to spread happiness a little further. We all experience roller coasters, but it is about time that we make those peaks into plateaus. It is time for happiness to be infinite, lasting always as that curve turns linear, zero in slope, but positive in velocity. It is time to ride that roller coaster, not in fear, but in glory. It is time.
-Happiness in Handfulls