Young and perky Nurse Olivia asked me if I had been depressed in the last two weeks. “Every time I watch the news,” I said. “Good enough,” she answered.
I have decided to be happy. But only in secret. The secret to happiness, I think, is to be happy in secret. Don’t let anybody know.
I don’t mean to be superficial, claiming all is good when it obviously is not. That’s where the secrecy comes in, where the secret heart takes over. If the world finds out you are happy, it starts working overtime to return you to normal. Just watch the news and you’ll see what I mean.
I grew up in a family, and culture, where happiness was suspect. You were not supposed to go any further toward happiness than being satisfied, and exhausted, by hard work. Accomplishment, in the sense of doing what you have to do. Certainly not happy. That meant you were goofing off. “Happy” and “silly” were synonyms. It never occurred to me that you could work hard and be happy at the same time.
Will Rogers said, “A man is just about as happy as he makes up his mind to be.”
I think that is true, which is why I have made up my mind to be happy, but only in secret. I don’t want the world to find out. But you’re welcome to join me, if you keep quiet about it. It will be our secret.
John Robert McFarland
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