Be happy ...

I met a friend of mine I hadn’t seen in many years for dinner recently. She confessed to me early on in our conversation that she is happy. Not just run-of-the-mill happy, but really happy, almost stupid happy, glad to be who she is, grateful for her life, happy. She's happy with the way she looks, she's happy with and for her kids, her mate, her home, her friends, her job ... pretty much anything you can be happy about, she is.

Clearly she's mad.

Nobody has the right to be that happy, do they? It seems almost seditious. Something like that could really get out of hand. What if other people started being happy about everything? Next thing you know there'd be nothing to watch on the news. People might even start being randomly nice to one another. They might stop day dreaming about things they can't have and get on with living in the moment. Good god that could devastate lottery ticket sales. If she has her way, there'd be nothing to gripe about over a beer. Hell, every time you would try to feel sorry for yourself some idiot would start singing, "... don't worry, be happy." It might even lead to complete strangers smiling at you on the subway. No, no this isn't a good thing, she has to stop.

As I was sitting there listening to her talk and laugh about her life, her passions, and the people closest to her, I suddenly felt myself being affected by all her giddiness. I was being slowly seduced from my natural state of detachment; she was dragging me into her lair of contentment. My god, when I think back on it, her constant cheeriness, love and generosity of spirit nearly had me re-thinking the time honoured notion of ... "if only I had this ... then everything would be ...” . Can you imagine! Good grief!

I admit it, I was weak at the time, transfixed; unable to move away, this temptress had me locked in with her eyes … which, by the way, were quite beautiful, bright and happy. Oh, the horror of it. Fortunately after hours of talking, laughing and sharing, I was finally able to tear myself away. Well, actually she had to go. But nevertheless, I wanted to tear myself away just as soon as I had a second night cap … which of course was only to anaesthetise myself from her wily charms.

As I drove home (well under the legal limit) I could still feel the effects of our conversation, I caught my own reflection in the rear view mirror, smiling. It was frightening, fortunately moments later, I had the opportunity to cut someone off and flip them the bird … that snapped me out of the trance and brought my world back into alignment.

Damn close call.