A series of rants - No.6

Rant #06

There is one thing in life that is never guaranteed... happiness. Nobody is ever in, or can ever be in, a permanent state of bliss. I'm sure there are many people out there who can point to exceptions, but generally the rule is hard and fast. I have discovered recently why this is.

On a recent visit to the big smoke from my coastal home, I chanced upon the key to eternal happiness, and the fact that attaining this status is easy, maintaining it is nigh on impossible. Without the use of some very dubious substances, happiness is at best short-lived, at worst fleeting. It was at this point, a discreet observation gave me the insight to the perennial human problem. Moaning. Herein lies the reason behind our occasional chinks of happiness.

Moaning is not the sole reason for this, it must be coupled with another symptom, but the underlying principle is our inbuilt ability to complain about everything. Lonely people are a perfect example. Instead of filling their time with hobbies or the art of being social (usually drinking to excess), they sit about becoming withdrawn, introvert and boring.

This leads to massive depression. When they finally do meet people, all they can do, in way of conversation, is prattle on about how lonely they are, how empty their life etc, etc, etc... ad infinitum. This is hardly going to get you to 'bond' with them and perhaps hang out together, more likely you will be offering to swap seats with someone else in the pub or excusing yourself to use the loo. Not happy.

Worse are those people who refuse to stop working and cannot enjoy the fruits of their labour. Whenever they do take a break from the grind and enjoy human company, they insist on talking about work - including those stories where you "really had to be there"!

What is most uncanny about happiness is how benign it actually is. Laughter is infectious, happiness is malignant in comparison. When a colleague is happy, how glad we are for them. I don't think so. We are scheming behind their back, asking others how 'they' got to be so lucky. We attempt to pick arguments with them, just to take the edge off of their day. In essence, we moan about happiness, no wonder we cannot harness it properly.

Is there a universal solution? I hear you all cry. Well, I have thought long and hard about this question, all the while constructing this column, and it appears not. After all, I have spent all my words complaining about those who moan about everything, and I'm not entirely happy. The trick is: make them think you are.