Dear Happiness, You Show Up in Silly Ways!

I went grocery shopping yesterday, and I came out of the mall happier than I was when I went in. You might think I'm crazy! Well, let me give it a better perspective. It was not the process that made me happy, but something happened that made me think how little things can add to our happiness quotient, with little to no effort whatsoever.

Let's go back a few years and forget grocery for some time. When I was in school, a PT period or a free period would make me happy. In college it was mostly lab and practicals; I hated theory classes. In work life, it's safe to say that good work and some free time in between jobs adds to the happiness that's otherwise dulled by the usual corporate politics, etc.

Now let's come back to the present. Bring the groceries back as well. What made me happy? After a long time, I finally found fresh, green and leafy spinach. Yeah, spinach, my favorite vegetable (oh, how I have a craving now)! But the keywords are fresh, green, and leafy. How often does that happen? I had grown tired of the wilted, dead leaves. Now you get it? So when I picked up a bunch, I smiled, and soon realized how crazy I would have looked standing in the middle of a mall smiling at spinach.

The spinach episode is just a little example of how the silliest of things in life make us happy. And how the definition of happiness changes as we grow older (read wiser). I used to get angry as a kid when mom would ask "what do I make for lunch tomorrow?" Now I totally empathize with her. I'm happy when I know what I can make the next day rather than being clueless and scratch my confused head standing in front of my open refrigerator. I'm happy when my rotis are perfectly round and turn out as phulkas rather than burnt maps of Sri Lanka or Australia, like they used to be. I'm happy with so many things that don't have anything to do with me.

Happiness has funny ways of showing up! Can you relate to this? Feel free to comment about the silly things that make you happy!