Friday, June 8, 2007

elusive happiness

I’ve read that as you grow older, taste buds die.  Food doesn’t taste as good as it used to when you were younger.

And statistics tell me other senses grow weaker, also.

So maybe that’s why my sense of wonder and amazement isn’t  what it used to be.  The evening news has left me jaded, I guess.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m happy and content when riding my horse through the countryside, or when I spend time back at the cabin.  Or anytime Cliff and I are together with no worries on the horizon.

But the keen feeling of happiness-so-sharp-it-almost-hurts isn’t there any more.

I miss that.

It all comes back to me, though, when I watch the two dogs running and playing.  They haven’t lost it, and I envy them their freedom from worry. 

I see it in the eyes of children, amazed by a summer storm.

When my Jersey heifer runs and kicks up her heels playing at my approach, I vaguely remember what it was like to be a child.

It isn’t that I’m unhappy; it’s just that happiness isn’t as sharp a feeling as it used to be.

Enjoy it, youngsters, while you can.


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17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Some times you just want to enjoy being young while you can, but the thing is; in this world we glue our selfs to the t.v set and to our psp's that we never give our selves the chance to enjoy.

Anonymous said...

Amen ... and when the moment arrives sharp as ever, just that brief moment, try to hang on to it just a little longer.

Anonymous said...

Wait!!  I sure hope I can have more joy than I had as a youngster!!  (I was pretty joyless for the first decade or two)

Russ

Anonymous said...

I wonder if I'll really know extreme happiness, even when it comes up and bites me in the butt.  I hope so.

~Amy

Anonymous said...

My sense of taste has not decreased with age, but rather increased .  The news and events can dull us if we let it. 'On Ya' - ma

Anonymous said...

I don't know if I've ever had a SHARPNESS OF HAPPINESS...maybe it's on the horizon............          Hollie

Anonymous said...

Thats a great way to describe it!! Great entry
Hugs
carrie

Anonymous said...

I wonder if it's just that as a person ages they have experienced so much in life...you've learned how bad the world is too and that can knock the edge out of happiness.  I think the happiness starts to come from little things like nature and the realizations of God's blessings that seem little but are so big...like a sunset.  For me seeing a cardinal is a blessing and he provides them for me constantly.  Reminds me of BOTH grandmas giving me a warm sense of security and love.  I think happiness just begins to take on new meaning.  Now if the taste buds start to go at my house...it's a sad day.  LOL.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing this.  I think we are happiest when we are children and we don't have so much responsibility at those younger ages... and we haven't yet seen so much pain and tragedy as we grow older and mature and are here on earth longer.  
Lisa : )

Anonymous said...

I understand completly.  I hope that you will read a book called Water For Elephants. It is a quirky but deeply satisfying book.  It is about what you write about.     Anne

Anonymous said...

I have found those moments are becoming more far in between....if ever anymore.
Pam

Anonymous said...

Yes..I do know what you feel. Sometimes I just have to keep the news off for a few days...it can be so depressing. It is hard to hold on to those vivid and bright feelings..maybe that is why I never tire of watching my chicks hatch, because it reminds me of renewal and gives me so much joy. I am very happy..I am where I have wanted to be for a long time. It is the outside world that dulls my senses. All the crime, the hate...sends me retreating back to simple good times here in the back yard.

Anonymous said...

Mosie I know exactly what you mean sometimes that feeling brings tears to my eyes or actually the lack of feeling.  I feel it when I watch horses run  or dogs playing and it is ALMOST like it was when I was young not quite but almost and sometimes I wonder if people young or old really feel what true happiness is when the sure joy of life is so wonderful it hurts.

Anonymous said...

I'll let you sing the blues, for now!  
Happiness is a state of mind.  
And there's always a pharmaceutical if you can't get to that state!  LOL!

Anonymous said...

I was just thinking about that today.  What I think happens is that more people give up trying to achieve that happiness which takes effort.  I think of all the energy we used to expend just trying to manufacture a great party somewhere.  It could take place on a mountain, in one of our homes, or even a long ways away to an outdoor dance hall.  It was the same with our camping trips and fishing trips. I just went outside to see our big pool absolutely devoid of swimmers, and it will probably be that way until the heat hits then there will be a few out there.  If the residents were young people that pool would be full and a great time would be had by all!  Gerry  http://journals.aol.com/gehi6/daughters-of-the-shadow-men/  

Anonymous said...

John does enough raving and ranting and looking on the down side for us both so I try to look up and keep the faith. Paula

Anonymous said...

Hmmm.  Interesting observation.
Traci