Happiness is Who You Are

“Are you happy?” Fer asks, as he rubs my scalp, in preparation for attaching two dozen sensors to my body. I’ve just told him that I’ve written a book called ULTIMATE HAPPINESS.
“Yes, I’m happy, but not in the sense of being in bliss all the time. The happiness I’m talking about includes being unhappy, being pissed off, being sad, being angry. It’s what’s underneath all those emotions. It’s what doesn’t change.”
“I like that,” Fer says, scratching my scalp even harder. Fer is a Sleep Tech at the Maui Medical Sleep Center, and is preparing to monitor my sleep. “I don’t think you can be happy all the time. Happiness is finding out who you are.”
Wow, I think, here’s a young guy in his twenties who knows more about happiness than most people!
“You’ve got it,” I say. “It’s about accepting life as it shows up moment by moment.”
“So many people hang on to stuff and it makes them miserable. I know a guy who’s getting a divorce and he can’t let go of his anger. I told him to remember how he once loved his wife, but he didn’t want to see it.”
“Yeah,” I say, aware of him measuring my head. “There are a lot of unhappy people out there. It’s great that you can see how our beliefs can create so much unhappiness.”
“It’s pretty simple,” he adds, “but not many people get it.”

Who could imagine that going in for a sleep test could be this much fun!