What is happiness?
Sunset in the Delta with a special friend…
I sit here early on Easter Sunday, quietly thinking about what to write for this week’s newsletter. It occurs to me that I am “happy”. But what does that mean? I guess there are as many definitions for that as there are people.
The forests of the Moremi.
“It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness”. Charles Spurgeon
Choosing gifts on the road for those at home.
AI (Artificial Intelligence) on my computer has this to say: “The true meaning of happiness is a subjective and multifaceted experience, generally understood as a state of well-being characterized by joy, contentment, and fulfilment, often involving a sense of purpose and connection with oneself and others”.
Little Bee-Eaters camouflaged against the bush.
Well yes, but that’s not very definitive, is it? Because I always take my phone with me, and am always taking images to share, I decided to scroll through my phone. As the song goes, “These are a few of my favourite things”.
The earth keeps track of those passing unseen before us…
Each image reminds me of different circumstances, different times, different people.
Delicious inflight snack, attractively presented.
“Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be”. Abraham Lincoln
A beautiful dragonfly, hitching a ride on our game drive vehicle.
There are many reasons I remember being “happy” at the time these images were snapped. And it is usually the little things that made it so.
Impalas in the mist – Chobe flood plains.
Today is more about images than text, but I feel that’s appropriate on this delicious long weekend – with another coming up almost within the week. So, this is my personal take on “being happy”. I hope you enjoy the images…
Being loved by a friend’s pup.
In life, there is always something to strive for. Working hard and achieving an end goal brings a very particular, heady happiness – and perhaps this drives many people who continuously strive.
An early morning walk on the beach, filled with little treasures.
“To find happiness, look halfway between too little and too much”. Ruskin Bond
Sunset after a walk on the beach in Scarborough with a special childhood friend.
Take the time to be in the moment. To recognise that you are, in that moment, “happy”. Too many look back over their lives, only to realise that they were happy in those faded images – and they just didn’t know it. What a sad waste…
An elegant breakfast and scintillating conversation with an exceptional woman.
To me, happiness is the stringing together of brief moments, ideally where you realise that you are happy.
Gardening success and a session painting pottery with a friend.
Those moments become days, then weeks, then lives. I believe that it is, to a large degree, an active choice – you need to be on the lookout 24/7 for things, people and activities that make you happy, and fill your life with as much and as many of these as you can.
Unexpectedly delicious meals in a quirky restaurant in a frontier town (Maun)…
One day, when you sit in your rocking chair, you will look back over a life well lived, and realise that, for the most part, you created a happy and fulfilling life. And that, surely, is a worthy goal?
View of the Okavango Delta from a light aircraft – complete with bush ‘airport’.
And finally, in closing, my favourite quote:
“Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you”. Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Surreal sunsets in the Savuti Bar.
May you find your bliss and keep going back for more!
Jacqui Ikin & The Cross Country Team
