Ignorance is Bliss

Are you happy?  What makes you happy?
I took a poll of my friends, asking them what makes them happy.  The range of responses was staggering. On one end of the spectrum, a friend said "Winning the Lottery would make me happy."  On the other end, another friend said, "Getting through the day without everything going to Hell makes me happy".

James Taylor said, the "Secret O' Life" is "enjoying the passage of time...any fool can do it, there ain't nothin' to it".  Is he saying that we should just enjoy being alive? The point of that song, unless I am missing it completely, is we should just "enjoy the ride".  I know people who are perfectly content being passengers through life.  While someone else is driving, they are just staring out the window, enjoying the view, watching the other cows and sheep by the side of the road.  Not me.

Like the spectrum of answers to my question of happiness, there is a spectrum of people in this world.  Some are successful and happy (or do they just appear happy?).  Some are successful and unhappy (why?).  Some are unsuccessful and unhappy (makes sense to me).  Some are unsuccessful and happy (WTF.  Ignorance is bliss, I guess).  I suppose the answer may be different for each of us.  What makes you happy might make me sad or angry, and vice-versa.  I also suppose it would be a boring world if the same things made everyone happy.

Being together with the ones you love, like in the classic song "Happy Together" by the Turtles, may be a universal source of happiness among all people. Achievements of any kind, great or small, generally make people happy.  Receiving praise for a job well done makes us happy.

"If it makes you happy, it can't be that bad", says Sheryl Crow.  I believe she's right, at least in most instances.  If hating or hurting people for no good reason makes you happy, that's bad.  There appears to be an exception to every rule, except for death and taxes.  So, perhaps it's not a good idea to think too much about what makes you happy.  If you think about it too much, you might conclude that you are unhappy. Perhaps Ignorance is Bliss.