Monday, February 9, 2009

happiness

So one day, I was randomly flicking channels trying to find something to watch when I came across the Oprah Winfrey show that featured a discussion about the pursuit of happiness. To be honest, it was actually very interesting and personally, I felt that it changed some of my views to life in regards to improving and potentially making myself a very happy person.

Happiness is what you make of it and how you perceive it to be in life (such as in an optimistic or pessimistic way). There was an example of a man on the show who's job is a funeral director. Although his profession is all about dealing with the dead, he sees it '...as a profession where I'm helping people at a very difficult time in their lives'. That is so true, isn't it?

It's like with my job (a checkout chick), where I serve a bazillion customers. Instead of thinking how tiring or repetitive my job is (mind this, I've had a long 8 hours before and it usually is the worst of hours), I just think how I could've made their day a step happier by greeting them all in the same manner and effort without lashing out any signs of frustration or fatigue.

And better yet, with some nice customers especially this asian couple who bought 2 massive 15kg+ watermelons which 'broke the scale', a conversation began, which of course starts with asking if I'm chinese and what language I speak. I don't know why but it's usually one of my highlights at work because being born here with English as my most fluent language, I'm able to test out my Chinese speaking skills (without being embarrassed as much, haha) by trying to converse with them in my home language (Cantonese) or with Mandarin (which I know bits and pieces of right now).

It might not seem as exciting because it's something you experience to know how it feels, but as an asian, I must say that asian 'elders' like them may seem proud about how this 1% is working at the checkouts in a supermarket surrounded by a majority of western people. That night, I went home and told my parents the exact same situation and omg, the look on my dad's face was like, 'Wah, dey interest in my daughter becos she chinese and speak so good'. Alright, I'm going off track here but hey, happiness delivered to asians here by me. ;D

Back on track... so then in the end after a massive wait due to having to weigh the watermelons again with a more 'pro-er' scale to figure out the price (which came to just $10 for both), they left smiling and very thankful to my awesome customer service. That seriously made my day... and furthermore, they may just come back to visit me (... aww) ...but if only I had really pictured what they looked like because seeing so many people everytime I work, I lose track of those people that make me happy. Instead, my mind keeps images of those who seemed 'unique' at the time I serve them aka the grown woman whose daughter is more mature than she is, or the spotlight bag man, or the woman with the bright pink lipstick who doesn't wear it right. I'll leave that for next time...

So yeah, happiness. It's all about making the right choices, enjoying the simple things in life and thinking and acting positively. Once you've realised how happy you are with yourself, you're able to deliver happiness to others whether it be through something on a small or large scale. Every bit of effort put forth into that delivery will definitely be very memorable and worthwhile.

A quote by an unknown:
The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.
Although you may not be the richest person in the world, you live life as it comes with a positive mind, and from that, happiness :D! Money cannot buy happiness (well in some extreme cases, yes, but literally, it's a saying I've heard many times so no, it can't) but happiness can be sold with effort.

PS. I don't know if what I wrote made sense or not because I was just typing away like a nerd who perhaps knows lots about something from learning off random sources.
PSS. She is way too mature for her own age... pshh.
PSSS. Sources include the Oprah website, world of inspiration for the quote and my brain.

Until next time, bye! :]

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