Happiness Field Trip

Four A.M. on a Saturday morning is when I decide to rise out of bed and get ready for what I will

come to call my 'Happiness Field Trip.'  The sun catches up with me on my drive to the coast and I end up making an impromptu visit with a small, quiet park.  I find a bench among the pine and other twisty trees and settle in the comforting seclusion (aside from a few neighboring crows).  The shade and cool morning air refreshes me on what would later be just a hot summer day, but there is something rewarding and almost enchanting about this particular hour.  Then I realize, if I were to remain in this present moment, right here, right now, and forget the "running clock" for a while - then I am without a doubt, truly happy. 



I think that last part is worth rereading.  I had the realization that we sometimes find happiness just by paying attention.  If we get out of our heads about what we think we need to do (i.e. the future) or about things we can't control we would live a more joyful life - we would be happier more frequently just by the awareness of those joyful moments.  Be present in life, learn to recognize the moments when you are truly happy, then savor those moments. 

Happiness is waking up to how beautiful your life can be.  You know you're awake when the smallest detail, when something you normally wouldn't think twice about, all of a sudden makes you feel strangely alive.  As I sit alone at a café patio, I see a bird among the flowers, casting his shadow from the new morning sun against a wooden support beam and the image stirs some emotions up inside of me - probably because I have deprived myself of what I needed for too long.  For me, the peace that nature and the quiet morning brought me is what I needed to recharge.  But of course, happiness looks different to everyone.    

I find happiness as I sit alone with my notebook, a warm café latte, and a blueberry scone next to plants that look like gigantic dandelions.   

My happiness is passing a community garden and the smell of flowers on my walk to the beach and looking out at the vast ocean, toes burrowing in the sand. It's not worrying about sticking to any plans and just taking the day as it comes. 

I think happiness is being alone sometimes, but never lonely.  It's doing the things that you love to do without concerning yourself of any judgments from others.  I feel happiness radiate from strangers.  I witness people (what few there are out and about this early) practicing healthy lifestyles - jogging, biking, being cordial to one another, a man walking with a banana and a yoga mat - perhaps to join the others doing yoga on the beach.  Happiness is sharing my sunscreen with a stranger. 

Happiness is listening to jazz on the way home.    

I've lived on the west coast for over a year now and have been telling myself that I should just go to the beach one day.  Better late than never I suppose, but I want to encourage you not to put your happiness on hold.  Sometimes, as in my case, it's only 20 minutes away and you just have to stop making excuses not to just reach out and grab it. 

Take yourself on your own Happiness Field Trip.  Don't look at it as a detour, but rather a necessary part of the journey you are along for the ride for. 





"There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will." -Epictetus