The Goodness of Happiness
Can you be happy and feel sadness, or grief, or disappointment at the same time?
The question seems ludicrous on its face, and the answer an obvious “Of course not!”
If happiness were merely a mood or an emotion, that would be true. You can’t feel two emotions at once any more than you can simultaneously think two thoughts.
But genuine happiness is more than a passing feeling. It’s an orientation toward life, a state of being in which you find yourself anchored regardless of the temporary circumstances that you experience as time flows past.
It’s a kind of trust in the ultimate goodness of life, a faith of sorts that even when the foreground of our lives feels tangled and blue, beneath it, there’s a light and a purpose supporting us. It’s an experiential knowing that when the trials run their course, the light and purpose will once again shine through, showing us how the trials have enriched and strengthened us. And our light and purpose will seem even deeper and more beautiful because of them.
Happiness lets us keep faith in life. It creates resilience and teaches us that in the balance, it’s all good. Every bit of it.
Posted in 
