Everyone wants to be happy. Everyone wants to live the life that would have been a norm for all of us if only Adam and Eve had kept their curiosity to themselves. Well mostly Eve, I seem to think Adam was just a poor victim of circumstances (I have a always wanted to use this phrase ever since Mr. Kamau- you probably don’t know him, he was my literature teacher- insinuated that Waiyaki, from The River Between was “A Victim of Circumstances” and asked us to write a whole freakin essay about it. So bam!! haha… at least it didn’t go to waste). Back to happiness, we all want that. It’s somewhat of a sweeping generalization, I know…but one which pretty much holds true across the board.
This of course is with the exception of if you’re a homicidal maniac who enjoys other people’s pain and suffering. Who gets off of the fact that people are all screaming around them – or a gym enthusiast vegetarian who enjoys the masochistic pleasure of seemingly making yourself suffer. In those cases I can’t relate at all – but those folks would probably tell you that they derive pleasure from those senseless acts, and consequently are happy, or at least are making a distinct effort to attain happiness…however bizarre it may appear to us regular humanoids.
So basically, I’m still right…sort of. I am always right… don’t you agree?
And while you may be less inclined to trust in a no-good bum wannabe writer like myself, you’ll probably listen to what I have to say more trustingly, if it comes from my old pal, Socrates. In spite of the fact that he didn’t ever come up with any clear-cut suggestions as to how to actually be happy. He mostly just went on and on rumbling about the importance of happiness and all that other shit we already know… But whatever… what do I know? Right?
”Harun are you seriously saying you’re better than Socrates? Your ego is completely off the charts, good sir. This is some next gen egomania in action right here”
Well, no – I’m just pointing out that I have a bit of a method to happiness that seems to work for me – and all he ever did was ponder, and deal in vague outlines about self-examination and virtues as with most philosophers of his time.Who if you ask me are overrated and didn’t in actual sense do much to help the situations they wrote huge books about. Both in their times and even now when we read their books and pretentiously marvel at their supposed genius.
“Hmm, he’s widely considered to have played a fundamental part in the growth of Western thinking…are you sure you’re not just jealous of his luscious beard? Because as hard as you try, yours never seems to look even remotely as attractive?”
How dare you bring that up?? That is unfair and you know it… I mean… – next question.
“Harun , you do realize you are writing this yourself right? Are there meds you should be taking that you maybe forgot about this morning? Because you are worrying me you know. Just stop if you’re going to be a baby about it – you’re coming across as a lunatic as it is. Also, we are out of bundles, could you maybe do something more constructive”
What do you have in mind?
“I don’t know, dial *544# for a start and follow those instructions they show you there, that ought to keep you occupied for a while (Yes Safaricom, the process for buying bundles from you is mediocre. I am buying bundles, not some real estate in Kileleshwa). Then maybe after that we can talk about your very obvious lunacy and the various cures available for it.”
Ahem, I deeply apologize for that. But I mean yeah, Socrates was a smart bloke and all – so I’m not saying I wouldn’t have invited him to the pub every once in a while for a few drinks. He believed in the study of reason, the search of truth, and the admittance of our own ignorance, a lot of dandy sounding shit if you ask me. But he had no ready answers. This, I’m quite sure would get frustrating after the seventh or eighth pint. In fact I could imagine waiting for him to use the gents, and then darting out to another pub to find some more digestible truth there. This would probably revolve around sports, and a drunken take on world events, basically, crap that would be easier to digest. After all it’s usually the simple things, you know? And he sure did make it very hard work for people…
But the thing is happiness doesn’t have to be a cloudy pie or pizza or ugali (whatever floats your boat really) in the sky sort of deal… In fact I think your pizza should be right here, right now – with as many toppings and sauces as you please, and with no guilt of overfeeding, or adding on too much weight (Is this still just a metaphor? Way too into it!… yes? I think so too)
Admittedly Socrates did state something very close to this, when he said something about we actively pursuing happiness through our actions and it being in this exploration that we would apparently expand our consciousness and become happier beings in the process…
But as usual the most important element (the “How!!!”) was never bothered with. Or perhaps he neglected it. I like to think he kept it somewhere real safe in his beard. Deep in there where only he could reach. And only let his closest of friends see it. The selfish creature. But seeing as the magnificence of my beard ,however much it is , doesn’t come close to his, hence would have a much harder time hiding things, I will share my little pearl of wisdom in the hope that it can boost your overall happiness levels. I won’t promise that it will have you moonwalking over a rainbow- unless of course if you read it in addition to a bag of weed (Which you are most welcome to try if you are over the age of 18). But I think it should provide less misery, and a greater feeling of contentedness.
So here it is, and yes I do know that it isn’t much:
Each and every year I try and try to be better than the last one… I try to invest more into my passions (which might or might not be the reason this blog even exists), and put more effort into my love for the strange languages that computers speak (That is my very shitty way of saying that I code). I try to say “yes” to more opportunities, and to welcome the experiences and challenges life is constantly throwing at me. I try to stay connected with family and old friends with some semblance of regularity. Most of all, I try and tell those that I hold dear that I love them more often. Basically I try and be an upgraded version of myself every year (See what I did there? Coding… upgraded version… no?). The key word in all this being “try”.
There are times it just never works out – times that life serves you a huge salted brick, with generous servings of unripe lemon juice (instead of that delicious pie in the sky). But when this happens, keep going… and keep trying, don’t just give up. It really is as simple as that. Personally the year hasn’t been to great for me, but I have tried to overlook the things that make it not great, that way, I can continue my great pursuit for happiness just like my good old friend Socrates (and his beard) would have wanted.
SO GO OUT THERE TODAY AND BE HAPPY TOO. AND WHEN PEOPLE ASK YOU WHY YOU ARE HAPPY… TELL THEM HARUN AND HIS GREAT PAL SOCRATES SAID SO.
