My thoughts are surely not original but this topic is dear to me so I am moved to share some semi random thoughts, albeit down the rabbit hole a bit. The concept that happiness is controlled from within is so very critical to living a full life; I frequently remind myself and those dear to me of this fact. The last thing we want to do is surrender our happiness to our environment. With the recent birth of my 4th grandchild (go team Hills) I have been reflecting on the question of our default way of being and the question of being ‘born with inner happiness’ as you say. It seems clear we are born into innocence and peace of mind but I ponder the default (natural) ways we interact with our environment at birth. For example, when an infant is uncomfortable why is it expressed as crying? It sure as hell isn’t a learned behavior. If we are born with inner happiness why don’t infants spend the day giggling? My new grandson will lay alone in his crib and make meditation type noises for hours ….. a general state of bliss, but infants laugh & smile most when they interact with with people who engage them with positive energy. So the BIG question and distinction to me is the degree to which we depend on each other to achieve our happiest state. Maybe we are only teaching infants “how to express” happiness; but I believe we cannot “be” our happiest without the love of others in our lives. It’s an important distinction in light of trends that result in people being less social, more isolated. We need the love of others to be our happiest.
Question Everything – Nothing is what it appears to be!