High on Happiness

Posts Tagged ‘sadness’

I learned again this week that when difficult times come, being grounded in the depths of happiness matters more than ever.  Sadly, that reminder came when my sweet fur-kid, Bunny-the-Cat, was killed by a car when she wandered into the road in front of my house.

Don’t misunderstand me.  I was shaken and filled with waves and waves of sadness and grief.  “Oh, my poor kitty,” my heart cried; “I am so sorry.”

There was nothing happy about it.  Except that I was free to feel the depth of my sadness, and to know that it came from having so enjoyed Bunny’s presence in my life.  My heart ached at the loss of her.  And yet I was comforted by the knowing that the cause of my pain was the love I had been privileged to feel because of this little creature’s special companionship.

Authentic happiness isn’t a feeling that blots out every pain.  It doesn’t stop you from experiencing life’s arrows and misfortunes.  It doesn’t blind you to tragedy or injustice.  But it does help you through them.  It wraps itself around you to comfort you and give you perspective and to help you understand that your grief, your pain, your railing against life’s episodes of unfairness are appropriate responses.  It allows you to sink into them, without resistance or a need to be brave or to fight against them.  It tells you that these feelings are okay.  Night is night, and nightmares are nightmares, and yet the dawn will come.

Happiness assures you of that – of the dawn’s coming – because it has proven time and again that the darkness is a transitory illusion and that in the end, light will prevail.

Somewhere down the road, happiness tells me, I will think of Bunny and instead of pain, I will laugh, remembering her antics, and I will be warmed, thinking of her sweetness, and I will appreciate anew the seasons of companionship she gave me and be glad.

But for now, happiness tells me, it’s the right thing to do, to honor your grief.  It’s a sign that you didn’t take for granted all the joy this little creature brought to your life.  And, you must remember, that you brought to hers in return.