The secret to eternal happiness

What's the difference between kids and adults? Age? Yes. Grey(ing) hair? Yes. (lack of) Energy? Yes.

The most obvious thing I can see is that they (the kids) are happy. We (power) walk where they run, we go the long way around where they jump and climb, and where we smile and nod they giggle and laugh.

Now with that in mind, let me ask; are you happy?

Wait - before you answer, sit there and think about something for a minute.

Picture the scene...

You're 5 years old. The summers are warm, people are honest and the news is just funny looking people talking about things happening in far away places that don't affect you.

You're happy. You're excited. You're inquisitive.
 

But why are you so excited? Why are you so happy?

As we get older, we develop a proclivity for worry. Don't get me wrong - I get it. Hell, I'm in the same boat. Be it personal ("why doesn't she love me??"), professional ("I bet she'd love me if I got a promotion!") or financial ("if I got that promotion, I’d pay her to love me!"), we all develop a sense of preoccupation that sort of takes over our sense of intrigue and curiosity that is so dominant when we're young.

But as we grow older, our responsibilities grow and we become more self-aware (unless you're one of the Kardashian klan, in which case you develop neither of these attributes.)

Now these are (arguably) necessary traits, so we should be capable of dealing with them and still being happy, right? 

And yet. And yet...

So what's the difference between us then and us now? What's the reason for the fundamental change in our state of happiness as we grow older? And more importantly, how can we change to return to our younger, happier selves?

Well to put it bluntly; we know too much.  Or rather as we grow up, we lose the thrill of discovery.

When we're young, everything is new and everything is an adventure - even a trip to the shops is exciting because we're seeing new things and new people and we're learning about all of them, all of the time!

And this - this one, tiny epiphany - is the secret to happiness!

 

 
 

Y'see, it's obvious to me that the secret to happiness lies in living in a state of perpetual discovery.

Be it people, places, things or skills; the happiest people are those that carry on down the road of self-improvement.

And the funny thing? You know I'm right.

Think back to when you last wore that child-wide grin of excitement, or when you laughed uncontrollably (like you would never laugh in the office!), or when you tried something new and revelled in regaling friends and family about your latest achievement...these moments when we dare are the moments we are happiest because we are discovering something about ourselves. Even if it's where our own limits lie (if you believe in such things)...

As for me; one of the last new things I dared to do was to throw myself down a big old hill in an oversized beach-ball filled with fairy liquid. Some people call this ‘zorbing’. As for me, I call it ‘awesome!’. I went ‘awesoming’.

So now you know the secret to happiness, I challenge you all to try something new - go somewhere new, buy a new instrument, try a new sport or say hello to someone you haven't spoken to before and ask about what they do! It's simple!

I challenge you to find something new out about the world or yourself; I dare you to recapture the thrill of discovery and why not help yourself to an 'adventurer's badge' when you have?

Just a thought...