Today's post is about happiness and where we find it. I was talking with Maddie this morning about happiness and where we find it. I find it in small doses every day in the little things that are going on around me. We spoke about how some people never seem to be happy where they are, but instead want to travel to find their next bout of happiness. I have never understood this line of reasoning. If you are not happy where you are...then move!
I traveled a bit when I was younger, and what I always found was that my expectations were never met by the reality. In other words, I always expected place that I traveled to be wonderful...that I would enjoy myself thoroughly and have a grand adventure. The reality was that I would live just another day in a place that didn't live up to my expectations. To make matters worse, I usually had to suffer through a full day of inconvenience to get there. The day would start by getting up early so I could wait at an airport for "security" to grope me and make me take off my shoes. Next, I would have to sit in a cramped seat for a few hours while the plane whisked me off to wherever I was going. The airports always seem to be either extremely busy, or very empty, depending on whether or not I was taking the red eye flight. After arriving, I found that most places just didn't live up to my expectations. In fact, only two places actually met my expectations: Chicago, which I expected to be a big city, and Detroit, which I expected to be a dump. Chicago has a great transportation system, so moving around the city was surprisingly easy. That's not a reason to visit the place, though, and I don't think anyone's joy factor is going to go up by going there. Both Cincinnati and Cleveland were cleaner than I expected, but again, not a reason to visit either. Before going to Cleveland, I used to think of that river that caught fire because it was so polluted. They've cleaned it up since the 70's, though, and I somehow think that the crying Indian from the commercial about how pollution was ruining America might crack a smile if he took a look at that river now. Anyway, I am rambling. Travel doesn't make me happy. I'd rather explore my own neighborhood since there are lots of places I haven't seen in my own back yard. One of you smarty pants may say, well if you hate to travel, how did you end up in New Hampshire? That is well away from where you grew up! That's true. To be honest, we started looking at New Hampshire as a place to live due to its lower tax rates. There is no personal income taxes in New Hampshire, versus 7% in New Jersey, and I felt that was a great incentive to move. Secondly, it is less crowded up here and there is great beauty all around. All said, I thought I could be happy here, so I moved. I am happy. And that brings us back full circle. If you are not happy where you are at...don't go on vacation. Move! Happiness should not be one week a year when you go to the Bahamas. It should be a little slice of heaven every day. If you have gone somewhere and you think you will be happy there, then move. If you want it, you can do it! Instead, so many people will say I can't. I have my job or my family is here, blah, blah, blah. Well, if you are unhappy and all of that is already where you live, then maybe you either need to move or you need to redefine happy. Nuf said.
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