If you're not familiar with this series of posts, and you want to catch up, the introduction is here.
Question #16: How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy?
This is a really good question worth really pondering. I don't know if I'll ever know the answer, but trust me when I tell you it's one of the things in life I wish I could understand inside and out. I wish other people could too.
I think most people believe that what makes them happy will shift throughout their lives, but I don't think that's true at all. Not for me anyway. So to answer this question, I have to start out by asking myself - and answering - what are the things that really make me happy? It used to be a hard question for me to answer, but it's not, thankfully, anymore.
What makes me happy is simply being part of the world, and living a life that is just a little bit bigger than my small piece of my hometown. It's being part of a circle of friends who let me care about them, and who care about me too. It's driving rescue transport for various shelters so that dogs (and cats!) can have a real chance at a family who will cherish them. It's taking my own girls to the dog park and watching them figure out how to be part of a never-ending pack that changes and shifts as dogs come and go. And it's being a role model for a pack of kids who look up to me, love me, and think they can learn from me --- and who have parents who believe I'm worthy of that role. The truth is though - I learn more from those kids then they could ever learn from me. My family, my sweet sisters and brothers, and their wonderful inquisitive little kids make me beam with happiness and glow with pride. And my own child(ren), the one(s) I haven't met yet but miss so very terribly - well just the possibility of them brings me more happiness than I can ever express.
So why is it that that doesn't make everyone happy? Well I don't know. I certainly don't believe the way I live is the only way to live. I don't think the things that are important to me are more worthy than anything that could be important to you. But I do think the way I grew up, in a close knit, but broken home, has a fair amount to do with me feeling so bound to the friends and family who are in my life. I think losing people who I was close to, friends, students my own age and younger, when I was a mere child myself, has made me overly sensitive to the reality that relationships are important. They mean something. They are something. They define pieces of you that are so deeply rooted you can't imagine how to explain them. And I think the very act of meeting, and loving some beautiful little people has shown me how much good there is in this world.
What makes other people happy? I'm sure a lot of things are the same, but I know many things are different - and the only reason I believe that is that everyone grows up in their own world, in their own skin, with their own brains. But one thing is for sure --- It wouldn't be very fun to spend all my time with all those people I love so dearly if they were all just exactly like I am.
What makes you happy? Do you know what makes other people happy?
Question #16: How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy?
This is a really good question worth really pondering. I don't know if I'll ever know the answer, but trust me when I tell you it's one of the things in life I wish I could understand inside and out. I wish other people could too.
I think most people believe that what makes them happy will shift throughout their lives, but I don't think that's true at all. Not for me anyway. So to answer this question, I have to start out by asking myself - and answering - what are the things that really make me happy? It used to be a hard question for me to answer, but it's not, thankfully, anymore.
What makes me happy is simply being part of the world, and living a life that is just a little bit bigger than my small piece of my hometown. It's being part of a circle of friends who let me care about them, and who care about me too. It's driving rescue transport for various shelters so that dogs (and cats!) can have a real chance at a family who will cherish them. It's taking my own girls to the dog park and watching them figure out how to be part of a never-ending pack that changes and shifts as dogs come and go. And it's being a role model for a pack of kids who look up to me, love me, and think they can learn from me --- and who have parents who believe I'm worthy of that role. The truth is though - I learn more from those kids then they could ever learn from me. My family, my sweet sisters and brothers, and their wonderful inquisitive little kids make me beam with happiness and glow with pride. And my own child(ren), the one(s) I haven't met yet but miss so very terribly - well just the possibility of them brings me more happiness than I can ever express.
So why is it that that doesn't make everyone happy? Well I don't know. I certainly don't believe the way I live is the only way to live. I don't think the things that are important to me are more worthy than anything that could be important to you. But I do think the way I grew up, in a close knit, but broken home, has a fair amount to do with me feeling so bound to the friends and family who are in my life. I think losing people who I was close to, friends, students my own age and younger, when I was a mere child myself, has made me overly sensitive to the reality that relationships are important. They mean something. They are something. They define pieces of you that are so deeply rooted you can't imagine how to explain them. And I think the very act of meeting, and loving some beautiful little people has shown me how much good there is in this world.
What makes other people happy? I'm sure a lot of things are the same, but I know many things are different - and the only reason I believe that is that everyone grows up in their own world, in their own skin, with their own brains. But one thing is for sure --- It wouldn't be very fun to spend all my time with all those people I love so dearly if they were all just exactly like I am.
What makes you happy? Do you know what makes other people happy?
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