Being Wildly Happy

When I meet people for the first time, within a few minutes they normally say something like, “You’re so happy!” or “You love what you’re doing, don’t you?”. I’m told my happiness kind of bubbles through my personality. And you know what? I think it’s true. I believe that life is way too short to be grumpy. Trust me, I have bad days and bad moods, just like anyone else, but… generally speaking I’m a pretty happy guy. Now, I can’t tell YOU how to be happy, but I can tell you what I think has become the foundation for my happiness and maybe that can help you be a little happier every day.

This is going to sound so mundane, but I believe the foundation for being wildly happy is contentment. When people hear this word, a lot of them associate it with “settling”. Settling for good enough and being content are two completely different things in my opinion. In my opinion, contentment is the ability to be satisfied with your current situation and not create unhappiness in your life because you feel like you are missing something. It doesn’t mean that you cannot continue to work towards other goals, but you do not let those goals own and define you.

As an example, I retired early to work in the running industry because it is what I am passionate about. I drive a perfectly good 2004 Toyota Sienna mini-van. Is it the most amazing vehicle on the road? Absolutely not! But it is paid for and it does the job. I am perfectly happy to drive it every day and not have a car payment. This is part of the decision to retire early, we need to minimize expenditures on things that we don’t really need so that we can live the life that we want. We don’t want the things that we own to own us.

When the day arrives that we need to replace the van, I am sure that I will probably “upgrade” to a different car, but this is also part of contentment. It’s the ability to delay gratification. I am happy with my current situation, I am comfortable with my goals, and I am aware that as I continue to work on my journey, that I will arrive at destinations that will bring more joy in my life. But, if all you do is focus on what you don’t have and constantly chase after those things without the ability to be happy right now, you may just go through your entire life never really being wildly happy.

There will always be something that you don’t have, so really take the time to appreciate all of the wonderful things that you do have, because this moment is gone, and you can never get it back. And tomorrow is not guaranteed. I can throw clichés at you like “Take time to smell the roses.” Or “Life is a journey, not a destination.” But I’d rather just try and lead by example. I work at a running store because it makes me happy, I run because it makes me happy, and I love my family because they are amazing, and I am lucky. I’m excited about the future, but I am wildly happy about today. I hope you are too…

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