The Serendipity of Happiness
My happy list includes books, bubbles, and good coffee.
Serendipity is the good luck of making amazing discoveries by accident. How cool is that?
Serendipity frequently brings me just the right book at just the right time. Or possibly, when I have been thinking about a subject like happiness or how to live strong, fit, and sexy—until I’m 80 and even older, my vision is set up to notice the books? Either way, it’s reliably happened to me throughout my life.
This week, I realized I’d been spending a lot of time thinking of heavy, even dark topics—cruelty to animals and the despair of climate change, for instance. Yet, I was feeling a real need to think happy!
What makes you and me happy? How can we get more of that?
One morning last week, I was sorting books donated to our local Friends of the Dripping Springs Library, getting ready for our next Big Book and Bake Sale.
Since serendipity and books often cooperate, I wasn’t surprised to see these two books; Younger Next Year*turn back your biological clock by Chris Crowley & Henry S. Lodge, M.D.and Solve for Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy by Mo Gawdat.
Live strong, sexy, & smart—until you’re 80 & beyond!
Hey! Sounds good to me, and I’m always trying to pick up fitness tips, so I brought it home to read. Score! This book made me happy.
The authors of Younger Next Year now have a version specifically for women, but I found lots of useful information in this edition. First, Crowley takes a bit of a light-hearted approach to a serious subject, healthy aging. He reminds us that what we call diseases of old age are not compulsory; we can do things to make the last third of our lives often healthier than the first two-thirds.
This book will be at the top of my list when someone wants information on getting started eating better, exercising effectively, and living a fulfilling life. And while the message may be easy to understand, it takes effort to implement.
That’s true of the other serendipitous discovery of the day, too.
“The message is clear: Humans are designed to be happy.”
The second book caught my attention with the message on the back cover.
In 2001 Mo Gawdat realized that despite his incredible success, he was desperately unhappy. A lifelong learner, he attacked the problem as an engineer would: examining all the provable facts and scrupulously applying logic.
Tragically, 13 years later, his theory was tested by the death of his son. I missed the book when it was published in 2018, but its message is even more essential today.
Why are so many of us unhappy so much of the time?
I sped through this book last night—it was so compelling. So now I’m taking the time to study it more carefully and spend time doing the suggested exercises.
The ease of reading, the diagrams, and the explanations make the concepts accessible.
To help us reset our personal definition of happiness, the author suggests making a Happy List.
Start writing down some of the things that lead to happiness; such as “I feel happy when ______________.”
Go ahead, include the simple and the obvious. My list includes:
I find books I never heard of in unexpected places.
I drink freshly ground coffee in the morning.
My grandchild gives me a drawing, announcing, I made this just for you!
It rains in the desert, and the scent of creosote bushes perfumes the air.
When the watermelon I chose is perfectly ripe inside.
Blowing bubbles in the sunshine.
Spending time with my family.
Waking up in the morning full of energy.
Gawdat instructs us to write down as many things as we can think of. Then, if you were forced to choose only a few things, which would they be?
Don’t you feel happier already?
What did you notice about my list? They are all simple things, easily accessible, and I feel happy when things I enjoy happen.
But life doesn’t always go the way we want, does it?
So what do we do when we are disappointed? Gawdat distills the definition of happiness into this equation.
Happiness ≥ Our perception of the Events in our life — Our expectations of how life should behave.
We should know this truth, but we often forget — it’s not the event that makes us unhappy; it’s the way we think about it.
Will you hate me if I say, read the book and find out what to do? C’mon…there are only another 320 pages.
Yes, I am suggesting you read the book for yourself. I feel confident it will inspire you to think differently about happiness and, indeed, to become more joyful.
And I promise—I will continue my summary tomorrow. It will be worth it.
Remember! Happiness starts with a conscious choice.
—Mo Gawdat in Solve for Happy
In the meantime, read this article about how Knowing Your Life Purpose—Your Ikigai.