25 Mar Happiness is…getting involved not just watching from the sidelines!
by Dr. Happy
Just the other day I was at Bondi Beach, one of the most famous strips of coast in Australia, if not the world. It was an incredibly beautiful day with blue skies and crisp, fresh water…made all the more magical because I had an hour or two free with nothing much at all to do.
So I went for a refreshing swim, and as I was walking back up the beach I noticed a group of tourists from overseas taking photos. Now this isn't at all unusual because as already noted, Bondi is a very famous beach and tour buses regularly stop off to allow their passengers the chance to see something quintessentially Australian.
But something I noticed made me think…
…many, although not all, of the tourists were standing and taking photos from up on the promenade. Many of them didn't even take the few steps down onto the golden sand let alone experience the touch of the cold, clean water.
And so I began to ponder whether or not this was actually a metaphor for life; whether or not this was something relevant to many of us and our happiness; whether or not there was a lesson to be learned beyond these tourists and their apparent reluctance to go down to the beach.
Which is when it hit me…this is what many of us do in life and this is why so few of us ever really experience real and meaningful happiness.
Do you "watch" the world without really getting involved?
Do you think about what you'd like to do but not get around to doing it?
Do you plan and study and research but not ever act?
Will your dreams always stay in your mind and never see the light of day?
Unfortunately, I think all too many people will answer YES to these questions; meaning all too many people are not really getting the most out of life because their not really getting involved in life.
Forethought and preparation and consideration are all valuable in context; but real happiness comes from real experiences and although they're not always perfect, they can be and often are perfectly wonderful.
John F. Kennedy was once quoted as sayting that "There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction."
So for real happiness…take some risks and get active. Get down on to that beach and if you're brave enough, get in the water and have a swim. You never know, it might not be nearly as scary as you think and you may well even enjoy it!!!