When are you at your Happiest and most Productive?

byDadaz123

2K followers

2 years ago

I want to piggyback off a post I wrote some time back in which I stated that joy is an inside job. Your situation should not decide your joy. I concluded that you can decide to be happy in spite of your circumstances.

Toys can bring you short-lived happiness which tends to disappear as soon as you become used to them. Habituation can even come a couple of hours after taking possession of the toy and leaves you wondering where the next source of amusement is.

Does anyone recall the character Robinson Crusoe by Defoe? I guess I am talking Boomers, Gen X's here, not Gen Z’s! Anyway,he was shipwrecked on an island and left all by himself. He did not waste his time having a pity party as some of us would have done.

He turned his alone time into a productive one. For starters, he managed to build a shelter for himself and a country home on the opposite side of the island. Also, he constructed a fort containing his ammo and guns. Crusoe planted barley, corn and rice. He even taught himself bread-making.

As if that was not enough, Crusoe built furniture, baskets,and some pottery with his time. He also raised goats and had a family of animals consisting of cats, dogs and even a parrot which he recovered from the ship.

How he was able to accomplish all that alone beats my imagination! I understand he got some spiritual help.

Some people feed off a crowd. They are only happy when they are in the midst of a crowd. They feel lonely and lost when they are alone and yearn for the company of other people. They are of the opinion that they do their best work when they are in the company of others. I have a friend who once confided to me that she is afraid of being alone. When I told her it was my most enjoyable time, she looked at me as if I was some type of weirdo!

Contrary to this group of individuals, I feel I am at my best when I am alone. My creative juices flow best when I am hunkered over a cup of steaming coffee alone. My reflections and recollection of events are sharper at such moments. Solitude allows me to do some introspection and plug into my creativity. Any little intrusion on my privacy breaks my chain of thought

I love the company of solitude especially when I am doing my writings. Such secluded moments have become rarer and farther between with the arrival of my three adoptive kids in my family. They are new to the United States and so are full of questions about the food, the culture, the people and all other things that catch their fancy.

So I have become their go to resource of sorts. Immediately they field questions,they expect me to come up with ready answers . I see how disappointed they look when I tell them I would need some time to check up on the answer to some of their questions. My wife works at night and sleeps daytime. That leaves me the only person they can run to for answers to their questions.

Now let me ask you this question. What’s your experience like? Do you think you can be happy without friends milling around you? How would you feel if you are left to yourself for a length of time? What would you do to make yourself happy during this length of time?