Chapter 29 what is happiness in september

The archmage opened his eyes. He is in the hospital. This is not the first time.He usually hides his ailments from me, but in recent months I've learned that he has trouble staying upright.He once slipped and fell on the sidewalk, tearing his forehead open.He also fell at home and injured his neck and cheek.This time he fell while standing up from the chair, and his ribs slammed into the desk.What caused his fall could be a syncope (short loss of consciousness) or a mini-stroke (a sudden heart attack that leaves him dizzy and disoriented). Neither is a good thing. I prepared for the worst.The hospital is the gate to the end.I called and asked if I could come to visit, and Sarah kindly said yes.

I cheered up at the door of the hospital.I couldn't get rid of the familiar and sad implications of the visit to the hospital.The smell of disinfectant.TV with volume turned on extremely low.Curtains to cover.Occasional groans from the other bed.I have stepped into too many hospitals and visited too many people. For the first time in a while, I thought about our engagement. (Will you help me write the sacrificial text?) I went into the Archmage's room. ah.He smiled and looked over from the bed: the guest came from afar I don't want that anymore. We hugged, I should say I hugged his shoulders, and then he patted my head and we both said this was the first hospital conversation.His robe was loosened slightly, and I could see his bare chest, with a few silvery chest hairs growing out of the floppy flesh.I suddenly felt ashamed, and quickly turned my head away.

A nurse came in, her steps light. How do you feel today?she asked. I︱Feel︱Yes, the Archmage sings lightly: I︱Feel︱Yes She laughed: he sings all the time, this man. Yeah, that's what he is, I said. It's amazing to me that the Archmage can maintain a good temper at all times.He sang to the nurses and joked with the doctors.Yesterday he was waiting in the hallway in a wheelchair when a hospital employee came to ask for his blessing.So the archmage put his hand on the man's head and blessed him. He refused to sink into self-pity.In fact, the worse the situation was, the more he seemed to put in effort to make it less difficult for those around him.

We were sitting in a ward, and an ad for an antidepressant flashed on the TV screen.There are many lonely people in the advertisement, some are sitting alone on a bench, some are staring out the window in a daze. I was always worried that something bad was going to happen, the TV narrator said. After showing the pills and some charts, the camera goes back to the same group of people, this time looking much happier. The Archmage and I watched silently.After the commercial, he asked: Do you think this pill will work? Not that amazing, I say. yes.He agrees: not that magical. Happiness comes in pills.This is our world.Prozac, Paxil, Xanax.Billions are spent advertising these drugs and billions are spent buying them.You don't need any major trauma, just general depression or anxiety to take them; as if sadness, like a cold, is treatable.

I know honeymoon actually exists, and it needs treatment like many other conditions.I also know that this word is misused by us.A lot of so-called depression is actually dissatisfaction, due to setting standards to impossible heights, or hoping to get something for nothing.I know people who are burdened with unbearable worries because of their weight, baldness, not being able to get promoted at work, and not being able to find a perfect partner (though they themselves don't look like a perfect spouse).These people think that unhappiness is a special state, an intolerable condition.If pills do the trick, they take pills.

But pills can't change the underlying structural problems.Desiring the impossible, looking for self-worth in the mirror, taking one job after another, but still not understanding why there is no sense of satisfaction and doing more work. I know.I've been through it all.There was a time when I worked to the point where I couldn't sleep.I am constantly looking for results.I earned money, I earned compliments.But, the more time I put in, the more empty I felt, like pumping air into a broken tire at high speed. The time I spent with my old professor Murray put the brakes on this practice.Witnessing him die and seeing what was the last thing he cared about reduced my workload.I set limits on my timetable.

But I'm still clinging to the steering wheel of my life; I'm not leaving things to fate or faith.I shy away from people who put their daily lives in God's hands, always saying that if it's God's will, it will be done.If someone says that the only relationship they value is their relationship with Jesus, I will keep quiet.Such obedience seems stupid to me.I thought I knew better.But privately, I can't say that I feel happier than them. So I noticed now that the archmage had to swallow so many milligrams of medicine, but he never took a pill just to calm his mind.He laughed a lot and avoided getting angry.He never doubted why I was born in this world, he knew his purpose in life.He said: Help others, praise God, enjoy and respect the world in which he was inserted.His morning prayer always began with: Lord, thank you for giving me back my soul.

From there, the remainder of each day is a bonus. can i ask you something OK.he said. What are the conditions of happiness? Well, he rolled his eyes and scanned the ward for a week: this is not a good place to answer this question. you're right. On the other hand he took a deep breath: On the other hand, in this building, we have to face reality.Some people get better, some don't.So it's also possible that this is a good place to define that term instead. Are you happy? That's right.Society tells us what it takes to be happy. New this and that, a bigger house, a better job.But I know that statement is false.I've coached a lot of people who have those things, and I can tell you they're not happy because they have them.

How many marriages fell apart after they had everything in the world.Despite wealth and health, family members quarreled endlessly.Having more doesn't mean you won't want more.If you always want more, richer, prettier, and more famous you're missing out.I can tell you from experience that happiness never comes. You don't want me to stop and smell the roses, do you? He giggled: Roses will smell better than this place. Suddenly, I heard a toddler screaming in the corridor outside, followed by a boo!It must have come from his mother.The Archmage heard it too. Well, he said: That child reminds me of a sage's teaching.When a child is born into the world, they always hold their hands tightly, right?like this?

He clenches his fist. Why?Because the baby doesn't know a better way, he just wants to grab everything, he wants to say: The whole world is mine. But when an old man dies, what does he do?He spread his hands.Why?Because he learned that lesson. which lesson?I asked. He opened his empty hands. We can't take anything with us. For a while we all stared at his hand.His hands were shaking. Oops, did you see that?He said. Yes. I couldn't keep my hands from shaking. He dropped his hand and put it on his chest.I heard a cart being pushed down the corridor.His words were so wise and so passionate that for a moment I forgot where we were.

all in all.he said, his voice lowered. I really hate to see him lying on that bed.I want him home, sitting at a messy desk, in mismatched clothes.I forced a smile. So, have you found the secret to happiness? I believe I have found it.He said. Are you going to tell me? Yes, are you ready? Ready. to be satisfied. that's all? Be grateful. that's all? Be grateful for all you have, for all the love you have received, and for all that God has given you. that's all? He looks into my eyes.Then he sighed deeply. that's all.