There's More To Life Than Being Happy

The title of this post was inspired by a recent TED Talk I watched by Emily Esfahani Smith

She says Life is about belonging. To me this rings true. It's like when I first went into our local Italian butcher shop. The owner was waiting on me and plying me with samples to entice me to buy. I had ordered $80 of delicious looking food and had pulled out my credit card to pay. The owner then had to put an end to our bonhomie and tell me that he only accepted cash. I was a little flustered but the owner saved the day by telling me I could pay him next time.

Imagine that, "Next Time."

I regained my composure after he said this and told him I would be back. He insisted I take everything and to not rush on his account. This made us both very happy. He had graciously offered his delectables and I had accepted. We both tacitly had agreed that we belonged with one another and to one another, and had cemented this bond over his fresh mozzarella.

It's often the trivial things which offer to me the best explanations of what Life ultimately means.  I don't doubt for a minute that there is more to Life than being happy. I also don't think we ought to be made miserable by our surroundings if we can help it.

I have had this sort of courtesy which I just detailed extended to me by other people in my neighborhood. Each and every time I have gone with my gut and accepted their kindness. Usually it's nothing more than a trifle or a platitude, though every instance has momentarily lightened my heart and helped me to forget the aches that come with Life's late-in-life storms. It's the feeling of affiliation that's driving these interactions. We don't necessarily stop and chat just to make ourselves feel happy, but that is often the end result; the unintended consequence of acting human and finding a bit of happiness for our trouble.