Sadness is as good as happiness. Embrace it.
In the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Jim Carrey plays the role of Joel, a troubled man filled with grief over a woman he can barely remember. He tries to remember her, but his memories are quickly fading. Joel, and many others in his community, had a medical procedure done to erase the memories of loved ones, including former pets.
Imagine that? Being able to completely erase something for which you never want to think of again. The movie makes a convincing case that people are happier not thinking of something or someone that might make them cry.
While I loved the movie, I really disliked the idea that as a society we should only be filled with happiness. After all, what is happiness? Is it truly everlasting? I don’t think so. Like any other human emotion, happiness comes and goes, and it doesn’t always happen when we expect it. I’m happy writing, and I am happy that you are reading. Still, later today, I might be disappointed about something, and that’s o.k.
We often hear the clichés about not knowing successes until we experience failures. We like these cliches because we need something to help us justify our failures. We don’t want disappointments to feel like real…
