Perhaps Just a Good Start

Hector and the Search for Happiness is a 2014 movie. I made a couple of notes thinking that someday, I would spend some time again with the happiness premise and the search for and definition of the same. 

Guess that’s today. 

In my mind, I had considered some long and protracted examinations resulting in a series of articles. But today, I’m in a mood for short. 

The movie is pretty good in a quirky way, but this is my opinion as apparently not everyone thinks so. But what’s new? So, if you are wandering aimlessly through the world of streaming one of these days, seek this destination and give it a go. 

Since my notes on this movie lacked any resemblance to a list of what made people happy, I looked towards the great and powerful Google for answers and amazingly enough, found one. 

According to Alexandra Funk, these are the lessons that Hector wrote in his notebook: 

Oh, The Noise We Make

If I wanted to start a fight, all I would have to do is walk into a room of people and ask one question. You might think the question would matter greatly. Sadly, it does not. 

Choose a topic, give an opinion, and the room (or your Facebook feed if that’s your venue) will light up with commentary, some of which will be quite unpleasant.

There was once a time when "debate" was a thing. It seemed to be a civilized way to manage differing viewpoints while taking time to listen to the other side. If it was a formal debate, the Affirmative and the Negative propositions were researched prior to the event. Each side presented their case without interruption, counterarguments were delivered, and a summation statement from each closed the debate.

Twinges

I knew it. I assumed this side table would come in a thin box with who knows how many pieces. 

And - I know me.  

I'm the one who scored in the lower 15 percentile within a category called "Mechanical Reasoning." Don't ask me to help you fix your car. I'd have to report you for acting in a self-harming manner!

I knew all this and ordered the furniture anyway because; It was priced right, and I'd been looking for a new home for my Canon printer. My current office desk is a banquet table which shakes to the tune of a 5.5 on the Richter scale when this computer peripheral is activated.

TOO Much to DO

We could probably name this one, "Overwhelmed."
Or we could name it, "The Best of Times."

Yeah, right. At first glance, you probably do not see it. Those two titles seem to be completely contradictory, to say the least. I admit that I would have wholeheartedly agreed with your assessment not so very long ago. I could not see what was right in front of my nose.

Then someone pointed me to a video by Gretchen Rubin called, The Years Are Short.

The Land of the Free

This will be a weekend consisting of red-white-and-blue adornments, local parades, backyard grills, and sparklers in the hands of children all to be topped off with the oohs and ahhs spilling from neck-craning crowds gazing skyward as colors explode over lakes and fields.

Indeed, we celebrate living in this great country. And always, we acknowledge the sacrifice made by so many that allow for this privilege.

A pause here would be proper.