Happiness must have the best of times, there hasn't been spoken and read about Happiness as much as in the last decades as during the times before. Shelves full of books about the topic decorate every bookstore nowadays. Sometimes listed under Psychology, sometimes under Spirituality, Philosophy or Non-Fiction. It seems to be a topic that can fall under anything. And the writers seem to have require it (vaguely reminds me of the search for the holy grail) or have mastered it - either as a sort of skill or a state of mind. And I too have found myself time and time again in front of the shelves filled with titles beginning or ending with happiness, ending with either a period, those who claim to have mastered it, and sometimes ending with a question mark, typically a book that knows it's mostly a vague concept.

Do you know what happiness is? Its definition is the following: 'The state of being happy'

Among its synonyms are pleasure, joy, satisfaction, delight and high spirits. Seems to me all kind of the same, and that is exactly where every book about happiness starts: the(ir) definition about happiness. 

After reading articles and books about happiness and reading magazines about people who seem to have it all but are still not happy, it seems to me that happiness only shows itself when you believe you deserve it, or when things go your way. 

One book that really state this in a comprehensive way is Solve for Happy by Mo Gawdat. No question mark in the title and he seems to be sure about what he has written to be a guidebook that will make even the most dreadful situations one that cannot kick you from you happiness throne. One of the things he writes about is the invention of labels like good and bad. Good and bad are just labels we apply when our minds fail to grasp the comprehensive, never-ending movie spanning across the billions of lives and extending over all of time. (...) If we could grasp the complexity of the web of perspectives that compose our experiences, we would realise that everything is just what it is. 

Alan Watts came with a similar statement “Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” (source) Alan Watts reminds me that every experience is just an experience and bad and good are  two sides of the same coin only seen from a different perspective. 

There is so much to read on the topic that a whole life time of reading would not launch happiness into your lap, because what all the books have in common is that  their message is: whatever it is your searching for, you already have it - you have the tool and that tool is consciousness.

The lessons learned

Defining happiness is something I have to do for myself. Nobody can tell me what makes me happy or define it for me. Being happy is like a label, and sometimes I define happiness by simply being comfortable. Because tentlife has taught me a lot about the consequences of my decisions and about what happiness really means to me. Being happy is, I believe, not a constant state of mind in the sense of happy thoughts, but in the attitude you take towards everything that is and might come my way as life is constantly moving.

Before I started this adventure - as I like to call it - I noticed a couple of things in my daily life brought me misery. To solve that equation I decided that living kind of off-grid, surrounded by nature, would solve the problems I had. And I'm proud to say it did, I'm glad my decision was a good one. But hold up, good? Is it better to have made this decision than making another one, for example living in a house? Or maybe moving to Spain where the sun is always out? I came to realise that this isn't the case. Just as I quoted Alan Watts before, the decision has simply led to my current life, with its thoughts and dreams, fears and worries. It made me realise that every situation has its own qualities and that with every decision I solve a few problems and create a few. I think the action is what counts and my attitude towards it. 

So instead of saying I'm happy, because everything seems so bright and jolly I would like to call it comfortable. Sometimes I'm comfortable being cold, sometimes I'm comfortable in my fears or in my miser. I know that things change every single day/hour/minute, it's the attitude and this knowledge that counts, makes it bearable and exciting. I'm comfortable in having made this decision, as I know I learned about myself and can face what is coming next by making new and measured decisions.