I don't intend to make a post that gives the meaning of happiness, because I believe that there are as many notions of happiness as there are people. In other words, I don't think there is a single definition of happiness. What can please me or satisfy me, does not necessarily satisfy you, dear readers. I also believe that we live in a society that mistakenly obliges us not only to be permanently happy, but to prove it. Ironically, being happy can become a task that makes us miserable.

Similarly, mistakenly, happiness has become a place, a person or a thing; and something hard to achieve: the more it doesn't cost to achieve something, the happier we are when we get it. That's why we say we'll be happy only when we get our college degree, when the person we love loves us, or when we win the lottery or dream job. That means, as long as we don't have that which we want so much, we are unhappy and very sad.

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Another fallacy about happiness is that after reaching it, it becomes a permanent state. According to this theory we should be happy all the time and we know that this is not so. Anyone's life can be dotted with moments of sadness, melancholy, rage, disappointment. We cannot renounce the possibility of having these feelings, since it would be a distorted way of seeing life: just as there is clarity, there is darkness; sweetness and saltiness; cold and heat; happiness and unhappiness.

There is a famous tale entitled Joy by the great Russian writer Anton Chekhov. This story tells the story of a boy who, after seeing a story in the newspaper, rushes excited to tell his family what he has read and to show the newspaper:

It was midnight. Mitia Kuldarov, excited, scrambled her hair, entered her parents' house like a tromba and hurried through the rooms. His parents were already going to bed...
Where did you come from? his parents asked him in surprise. What's the matter with you?
Mitia burst out laughing and sat on an armchair; her joy was so great that she could not stand.
It's unbelievable! You can't imagine! Look!

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With this beginning, we believe that the event that has happened to Mitia must be extremely important, since he is very excited. So it is with Mitia's family, who immediately get up and ask for an explanation for the untimely manner in which he has entered the house and the rooms:

What's the matter with you? Your face is rotten!
It's joyful, Mother! Now all Russia knows me. All of it. Before, only you knew that there is a registered registrar, Dmitry Kuldarov; now all Russia knows. Mother Oh, Lord!

As we can see, there is immense joy in Mitia and this has to do with the possibility of becoming famous and known throughout the country. When Mitia shows the newspaper to their parents, they begin to read the news amid the excitement of Mitia and the expectation of the other children. Mitia tells her parents:

You live like forest animals, you don't read newspapers, you don't pay any attention to advertising, and so many admirable things in newspapers! ... How happy I am! Oh, sir, you know that the newspapers only talk about famous people; well, they have talked about me.

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With this confession, we see that Mitia's joy is motivated by the news that appears in the newspaper, but also by the idea that he has and that he tells his parents that only important people appear in the newspapers. Later, Mitia has her father put on his glasses and read the news aloud:

"On December 29, at 11 p.m., the registered registrar Dmitri Kuldarov, finding himself somewhat drunk, slipped and fell on the horse of a muleteer, Iván Dótrov, from the village of Durikina, Yújnovo district, who had his carriage standing there. The horse was frightened, fell over Kuldarov, and dragging the sled in which sat the merchant Stepan Lukov, of the second corporation of Moscow, ran through Lacalle, until he was stopped by some goalkeepers. Kuldarov, who had become senseless, was taken to the police station and examined by a doctor. The blow to the back of his neck was described as mild. From the event the corresponding attestation has been lifted. The patient has been given medical help..."

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Reading this review, the parents are stunned and Mitia, still full of joy, tells him that he must continue to show the newspaper to other neighbors to give them the good news, so it is sung in the middle of the night. Despite Mitia's enthusiasm, the family fails to see the relevance of the issue. This leads us to repeat the words we said at the beginning of this text: the notion we have of happiness may be different from that of others. What can make me happy does not necessarily make others happy.

Other of the things that underlie this story is how easily some people can be happy and that because they don't expect happiness to be in great things. Happiness can be in the smallest details, because we are the ones who value those details. A smile, a kiss, a hug, talking to someone, reading, can make us happy for small moments. The human being can choose to be happy.

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Thank you for stopping to read this post. I remind you that you can vote for @adsactly as a witness and join our server in discord. Until a next smile. ;)

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCE

https://www.yumpu.com/es/document/read/14173058/cuento-alegria-autor-anton-chejov-confiar

Written by: @nancybriti

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