Happiness as a spiritual practice.
I posted that topic in a pen pal magazine once, hoping for a deep philosophical discussion. Instead one fellow wrote, “Are you on drugs or something? That’s the dumbest idea I ever heard in my life!”
Another time a friend looked at me and said, “Maybe you do know something, Jean. I always thought you were so happy because you were stupid.” That was neither the first nor the last time I received that reaction, although most people weren’t that outspoken.
For better or worse, though, my spiritual path chose me when I was 17 years old and I’m stuck/blessed with it. The details aren’t important, I just knew that understanding what a good life was, what made people happy, was something I needed to explore. And knowing what your life is about is worth a lot of embarrassment.