Easy happiness
My pathetic attepmts to formulate existential questions like 'What's the point to...?', always seem to end with 'because I want to be happy'. I wonder if others are of similar view. 'Cause it makes me wonder in such case, why more people aren't happier than what they seem to be. It is so freaking easy to make someone else happy. Too easy to resist trying, at least for me.
Today is the birthday of my dear spanish colleague and newly found friend. She is so sweet, energetic and funny. She makes me laugh. Her presence, in combination with my american colleague, office mate and above all friend, are the two reasons for why the office is such a nice place to hang out. A month ago or so, the Spanish saw one of my scarves I knitted for myself last year, and she said she really wanted to have one of her own, and that she wanted me to teach her how to knit. Last week she told me that she had passed the window of the yarn store when it was closed, and had seen a perfect yarn for her scarf. She was afraid to start knitting with such a nice yarn though, and asked if I could start by teaching her to knit a regular easy wolly black scarf. I helped her out by getting her some knitting needles from home, and soon I will start teaching her. I also went to the yarn store (when it was open) and bought the yarn she was so enthusiastic about, and knitted her a big triangular scarf with a nice pattern for her. Today, I gave her the scarf for her birthday, and it made her so happy. She was almost overwhelmed. It is so nice to make people happy, and so easy! So why not take the chance more often?
posted by Sister Sweden @ 16:04
4 Comments
4 Comments:
wow! wow! ummm...WOW! lemme come back when i can find better words to articulate what's goin on in my mind!
wow!
hehe... looking forward to it!
Okay, here I am once again…picking up where I left off. This period is such that if I said you did a very gracious deed…99% of the world wouldn’t know what I am talking about. (Moreover, I would be understating the truth!)
I have hardly ever seen anyone put in a considerable effort to make someone happy. Yes, I have take notice of this where people are in “love”, but an absolutely different chemistry is at work there. Usually people work hard for their own advantage or happiness and maybe sometimes for the benefit of others. But what gives someone inspiration to work hard to make someone else happy?
I am neither on the giving nor receiving side of your action. But as a third person…I find it very profound.
Such actions make a huge statement about a person’s temperament, capacity and value. Had you gotten her a present or a card or something…I probably would have let it go…but I can’t let THIS go.
Letting someone outta an elevator before you, opening a door for someone, helping someone carrying their stuff, saying “sorry, please and thank you”…everything is feels superficial and dwarfed (though still required!). Formality is phony. Period!
And the fact that you were offended by the conduct of the store lady totally snaps into position now. And so does your wanting to lend a hand to people in need of help.
I have met only 2 kinds of people in my life (apart from family and a few close friends)…(1) those who care but take me for granted and (2) those who just don’t care. I don’t have a category for you and neither to I have a name for that category. You’re probably better off NOT being categorized anyway.
This is something I needed to experience (or see) to believe…I believe it now. Selfless good people probably DO exist…sadly, the only one I know is sitting in Sweden. If I ever did something like this…I’ll know that I’ve reserved a seat in paradise!
P.S. I coulda, shoulda, woulda edited this and made this shorter…but I didn’t wanna!
Hey you,
For me this type of action is not so extraordinary or uncommon. I grew up with two parents that love eachother, and people around them. My mom has always knitted, many times for other people's birthdays and especially for births. Not only for family members, but also for colleagues and friends. My dad has always showed great love and kindness towards me and my sister, and the same love towards our friends/boyfriends and also his own friends of course. He has a great talent for building things, and he will always help you out with building something even though it takes time and expensive material, as long as "you" are either a relative/friend of his, or a friend of mine/my sister's.
To me this kindness, and what you call selfless efforts are common, at least as long as I was in the shielded comfort of my family home. As I grew up this behaviour was not as common as I believed before. But still, I feel all the good friends I have, I believe are of this selfless kind material. None of them take me for granted. I hope it is not as uncommon as you have experienced this far, but maybe it is not as common as I still experience (although I have already decreased my expectations of people being kind to me from 100% to maybe 60%). I know I am still a bit naïve, and think too often that someone I meet on the street won't harm me/will be kind to me. But I try to be more careful, without becoming cynical.
My last point is this. I am not sure there are selflessly good people still. As I said, making an effort to make someone else happy, of course makes me happy. This can not be selfless, can it? I view myself as a person with a regular/normal amount of kindness towards my family/friends/fellow-beings.
And my absolutely last point, I don't believe a place in paradise is reserved for me, since for me the concept of "paradise" is strongly associated with religion, and this is not something I indulge in.
(don't edit, write as long as you want, I like it!)
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home