What’s the Cost of Being Happy?

I’m gonna keep this short. I’ll be honest and tell you that I’m hammering this out in the minutes before it’ll be posted. I didn’t give time to this week’s post at all, and that’s something I may have beaten myself up about in the past. I spent a few days away with some friends in Kerry. We were near the beach and as far away from the internet as possible and it was good times. The weather was unbelievable. It was great vibes for all involved.

I always find myself feeling quite sad after trips away, or after any group experiences. After riding high for a few days, and getting away from life for a bit, you find yourself being dropped off at home with your bags at your feet and a little worse for wear. You’re no longer surrounded by people. You don’t have anyone to bounce off of, and you have to face into the reality of getting back to normal. Coming back from a trip away can leave you feeling off center entirely.

It’s easy to see why a sadness might follow a good experience. But it got me thinking of how everything we do has a cost. This isn’t on a spiritual trick either, it just makes sense. There’s only a finite amount of energy floating around the place, so if you take some away, you’ll have to pay it back at some stage. I think we pay for our happy times with sadness. I think we also pay for it by virtue of the fact that happiness can’t be a constant state of mind. You wouldn’t know things were good if you didn’t know how it felt when they are not good. I think we might have to end a good trip away with a pang of sadness in order to solidify the fact that we did have a good time.

The counter to that is you gain a few happy days every time you have a sad one. That may not be true, but it might be a nice way to frame things in your mind. I like to think that every time I feel sad I’m just paying for some happiness I’ve already had, or some happiness that is coming down the line. That makes the sadness worthwhile in a sense, and although it doesn’t make being sad easier, it certainly makes it an experience I can tolerate better.

I could also be talking shit. I just know that I got back from a trip and feel a little low, so I said it was a good idea to explore that feeling.

Drink water,