Fortune Cookie No. 8 - Happiness is Around the Next Corner, Wealth Down the Street

Happiness is Around the Next Corner, Wealth Down the Street

Booyah! Here comes the money! Wealth, riches, maybe a little fortune and fame. Read it and weep losers! The money train has arrived!

Whoa, wait a second! I just realized something, something that required a re-read of my fortune. It mentions Happiness and Wealth, but it never actually defines either noun as meaning a monetary increase. Ah crap. Now what?

Sounds like I better keep my day job...

I do find it interesting that Happiness is listed first in this fortune. . .before wealth. From an eternal perspective, maybe it rightfully should be so too.

Ultimately this is not to be a study whether money can buy happiness. There are sound, well thought out arguments for and against this the idea. I'd rather propose the notion that investing personal time and talents in people and experiences yields the greatest Happiness and Wealth.

Consider...

Which is easier to obtain, Happiness or Wealth? And which should be the most rewarding? I suppose Wealth is subjective and Happiness a matter of perspective, desire, and choice (more on that later). But to continue with the money = happiness parallel, suppose I offered you a crisp $100 bill. No strings attached. No stipulations. You can spend it, save it, give it away. You can do whatever you want with it. I would ask, would the free $100 bill (Wealth increase) make you Happy (a potential emotional increase)? Or would you choose to be Happy because you now possess the $100 bill (Wealth increase)?

Another way to view this dichotomy: is one Happy because they have Wealth? And were they lacking happiness prior to their wealth? And once they've attained some level of Wealth, are they now happy? How does one know when they've attained a Wealth that equals Happiness? If one has to work for their Wealth, are they more likely to appreciate AND enjoy their Wealth?

But what if in order to obtain Wealth, one has to sacrifice the Happiness originating from carefully established and developed social relationship that aren't dependent upon monetary wealth? What if one neglects what truly matters for what they think matters?

Earlier I mentioned that Happiness is a matter of perspective, desire, and choice. Combined, I'm a firm believer that one chooses Happiness as their desire and perspective match. And while it may not be that simple and certain circumstances complicate this ideal, it nevertheless can be developed over time. And the residual effects of this development compliments an active life and ultimately benefits those associated with the individual. Again, is it simple? No. But is it possible to choose Happiness and be Happy? Absolutely.

In the end, I'm pretty sure when the fortune mentions Happiness and Wealth neither are referencing money or financial Wealth, but instead it allows the receiver of the fortune to determine what Happiness and Wealth really are in their life. So whether or not one can or can't buy Happiness, maybe for some, an investment of Time in people and on experiences yields the greatest Happiness and Wealth.

Fortune Cookie No. 7 - You Enjoy Playing to a Crowd

You Enjoy Playing to a Crowd

No, I really don't enjoy playing to a crowd. In fact I've never really wanted to either and I doubt I ever will. Of course I don't enjoy sitting on the sidelines watching others succeed and live life either. But what an unusual fortune. Is this more of an issued challenge or a blatant lie? This is not to say that we should avoid the limelight, the attention, and the crowds. Or that those who love such settings are doing things just for show. It almost reads as if the team that wrote this fortune cookie fortune was desperate for a new fortune:

"Alright team, I've got nothing. I am plum out of good ideas and I think our consumers are catching on. People don't really believe these things, do they?"

"I don't know. We've packaged and repackaged the same fortunes over and over. I guess we can do it again."

"But won't people catch on that these aren't really "fortunes".

"I doubt anyone really reads that much into them anyhow."

Now then I do strive for greatness. I would hope everyone does too. And some actions do need to be seen and shown. Hard to be an actor without a stage or camera. But can't one be great without being in the spotlight or doing things for others to see? Does every good deed need to be known? Certainly there are some not so good deeds best left unknown.

For this fortune reading I've chosen a different direction. My mantra for this posting is to live for something great! Challenge yourself to be great, but challenge yourself to be something greater than yourself. Be a part of something great. Contribute to something great. Expect great things. But do it without the attention, glory, and honors.

I love this quote by John Wooden, the revered former men's basketball coach at UCLA: "The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching." In regards to this post, I read it as saying, "Whatever you do privately, in many ways, you should be willing to do them publicly." (And yes, I'm aware that as a coach of a major university, much of what he did was on a major stage - humor me).

While you don't have to play to a crowd, avoid the shadows and safety of the sidelines. It may require a certain amount of vulnerability and risk, but great deeds done in private will ultimately yield great reward.

Fortune Cookie No. 6 - You Will Touch the Hearts of Many

You Will Touch the Hearts of Many . . . maybe if I'm a cardiologist or a coroner. I'm fairly confident however, the latter profession is definitely not what the fortune is referring too. Then again, I highly doubt the former profession is either.

How then does one Touch the Hearts of Many? 

Now you can tug at one's heartstrings. Anatomically speaking, this can refer to the Chordae Tendineae which, 

"are tendons linking the papillary muscles to the tricuspid valve in the right ventricle and the mitral valve in the left ventricle. As the papillary muscles contract and relax, the chordae tendineae transmit the resulting increase and decrease in tension to the respective valves, causing them to open and close. The structurally string-like appearance of the chordae tendineae has led to their being called "heart strings."

But of course, damage to these tendons should be limited to those with years of training and expertise.

News reporting and movies often invest great effort, time, and money to present a story that will tug on one's heartstrings. Through literary imagery and emotion inducing orchestrations, Hollywood produces movies that induce emotional expressions of happiness and joy and tears and sorrow. Manipulative or not, the results are often genuine and real to the viewer.

All that said, touching anyone's heart starts with caring for someone or many someones, beyond the obvious "how are you?" It involves investing a portion of yourself in others, especially when it's not convenient to do so. It requires having embracing a passion for lifting the downtrodden and bringing joy into a world where negativity and depravity often scream loudest. In essence I think it really means loving someone even when they make it hard to be loved - loving the unlovable. Touching the hearts of many, or even one, should be a positive and permanent experience.

I guess then a cardiac surgeon can both emotionally touch your heart and literally pull your heart strings.