Who would have argued that one (if not the only one) of the goals of spending this lifetime on this earth is pursuit of happiness?
Speaking of “pursuit”, it involves action, cognizant action. For me, it’s a “soul searching” process that made me realize that I’m happy when I’m surrounded by good-hearted, caring people and when I’m able to give in ways of helping others, be it financially, physically or spiritually (please also read here and here to see how others are saying about happiness).
Until I got sick a few weeks ago, another light bulb went up. You see, I’ve been blessed to have inherited good genes. So, I rarely get sick. But, unless one lives in a vacuum, there stands a chance of catching illness from (even) the good-hearted, caring people that surround you.
So I came down with a cold/flu and was patiently waiting for the full cycle of the virus to go by, the sore throat, the running nose, the stuffy nose…
That’s it, the stuffy nose was what got me philosophical.
I don’t know how much of me qualifies as a gourmand. But I do LOVE food, all kinds of interesting food. My husband used to say that he enjoys watching me take my time with all my meals. And I am not sure how much of my love for food contributes to my husband’s decision to marry me.
So anyway, when the time comes, I realized that my favorite food in front of me tasted nothing but salty or sweet. I did not have the ability to sense the flavors, the richness of the liver, the aroma from the fruits… If you are a gourmand, you’d understand my disappointment. To me, life was all of sudden black and white.
Since then, while I was even more patiently waiting out the cold/flu cycle, I started appreciating more of what I have had in life as the “basics”, including the things that most of us were born with – the ability to see, the ability to hear, the ability to smell… This, coincidentally agrees with what’s call the “Modern Seven Wonders of the World” (for more, please read here, here, and here).
So, friends, when there’s a lot going on that we can’t control (do I need to remind you of the recession/depression that we are still in the middle of), we have much control in how we feel about what we’ve already got.
So let’s celebrate this wonderful life that we’ve got, my friends, right now!
