Happiness

In a previous post, Jan left a comment on my blog saying, "there is so little happiness in our world at times."

By the way, visit her blog HERE. You will enjoy it.

So, as I was saying, there seems to be little happiness in the world these days. Whenever you switch on the TV or radio, or buy the newspapers all you hear is bad news. I don't know about you, but after a while all this bad news tends to wear me down. I have bad news overload. The hard-drive in my memory banks can't take any more bad news. My brain tends to switch off to the point where I become immune to bad news and sad events that are happening all over the world. And that in itself is bad. When we become immune to someone else's suffering we become less human. I dare say, we become less Christian. How can we obey Christ's message of loving one another if we no longer care about some sad event the other side of the world because we've heard too much bad news.

I suppose that's why over the years I've developed a sense of humour. It is not to shut out bad news and become immune to it, but to restore some balance in my brain and to seek a tiny bit of happiness, albeit at times short lived.

My sense of humour has not always helped me at work. When others wrestled with a serious managerial problem I often said something I thought funny to defuse the tension; and gain me the displeasure of my boss.

I remember once the boss gathered a team of "experts" to resolve an impending crisis. He started the meeting by asking what skills we had and wrote them on the board. Some said they were expert at economics, marketing, sales, financial management and all that. When it came to my turn, and my boss asked for my skill, (he knew it anyway, for Pete's sake ... I worked for him), I don't know why, but the devil in me said, "I wrestle crocodiles!"

To his credit, without batting an eye lid, he wrote "wrestles crocodiles" on the board.

Anyway, this is a long winded way to ask what is happiness? What is it to you? How would you define it in your case?

For me, happiness is getting home and finding there is still a piece of cheese in the mouse trap. I could then have cheese and biscuits and a glass of port. Well ... not actual port ... vinegar diluted with water. Now I'm sure some of you would be disgusted at what I've said. But I challenge anyone to tell me the difference between port, or a fine wine, and water and vinegar. For extra sweetness I dissolve some sugar in the water before adding it to the vinegar. It makes a fine rose wine from Château Victor!

Just had a thought ... it's been a while since I posted any videos. So here are two: about Happiness. Please humour me and spend a few minutes listening to the lyrics, and perhaps joining in the songs.

Let me know what you think. I made both videos.

The first song is sung by Father Francis Maple. A priest I have known for years.

   

 The second song is sung by the Monks of Weston Priory in Vermont USA.