Mystery Unsolved: Happiness

For a 1-year-old, the smallest of things bring about the deepest emotions. Crying is a normal part of the day but so is happiness. Anything and everything excites a 1-year-old. If it sees rain for the first time or witnesses its first rainbow, a beaming smile forms on its face. Anything that comes to mind, the child does it with no fear of the consequences. The child always chooses the heart over the mind. Fun fact: the heart of a fetus forms before the brain does. How come we, as adults, don't naturally do the same?

One remarkable teacher in my high school taught my class a scale. A very important, life-changing one. He always told us how important it is to know and understand the scale. He explained how significant this scale is in helping ourselves be happy. So, I'd like to pass this information along to you too.

To ensure that you understand this scale, I would like you to get involved. Find a piece of paper, a pencil or pen and let's get started. Shall we? On this piece of paper, I'd like you to draw a simple scale. Do not label just yet. Once finished, label the far left "Intrinsic" and the very far right "Extrinsic". At the halfway point, put a small line as well.

Intrinsic, in general, means putting heart over mind. You listen to your heart over what your mind says. Extrinsic, simply put, is the opposite. Mind over heart. Now, be honest and place yourself somewhere on this scale. Put a small tick. If you want, try it with your entire family and friends to compare where each one of you is on the scale. I'm no future prediction expert but I'd like to make an educated prediction that most of you have placed yourselves past the middle point, towards the extrinsic end of the scale.

Draw another scale identical to the previous. Next, recall when you were a baby and I'd like you to take a few seconds to really immerse yourself in this recollection. Once you've done so, place a mark where you believe that this baby version of you would be on this scale. Again, I predict that you'll be past the midpoint, near the intrinsic side of the scale.

That's quite a flip around going from one end of a scale to the other. As we grow older, we begin creating memories through our experiences. Certain experiences give us immense happiness while others cause trauma. Over the years, we are also introduced to many responsibilities. From being dependent on our family, we become independent and then have a family of our own who is dependent on us. We face the harsh realities of the world and then, life changes before we know it. We change.

One of the worst things I've noticed is that people who have cracked the code on how to put heart over mind are ridiculed by society. They are not immature most of the time. In fact, they are actually just as mature is the individual next to them.

So why do we ridicule them? We spend our whole lives finding ways to be happy and doing things that bring us happiness. And they have found a way to do so. Wouldn't you want to be as happy as a baby is? So why aren't we? Maybe it's all the responsibilities or the hardships we've faced. Maybe it's societal norms and customs we must follow. Maybe it's this cruel world. Or maybe it's a combination of all of this.

I'm not sure. Unfortunately, I have not cracked the code yet. However, I will. I'm on a quest to solve this mystery. (Quick side note: All the Nancy Drew books I read made me thoroughly enjoy mysteries.) Once I have, I will share it with you. For the time being, I'd like to leave you with this: Do you wish to determine what changes from childhood to adulthood that you forget to listen to your heart and let just your mind rule, causing you to forget how to be truly happy? If so, go on your own journey, discover yourself and I'm sure you will crack the code also. Embrace happiness. True happiness.