Being Happy

It occurred to me a few days ago that while everyone is guaranteed to experience some sadness in life, experiencing or having sadness is quite a different thing from being sad. Being sad, a state where sadness is a defining characteristic of who a person can be said to be, sounds more or less like depression, except that even depression sometimes goes away.

So while sadness is a necessary and important part of life, being sad is to be avoided at all costs. But what about being happy? This sounds like it would be a good thing, but is it? It just crossed my mind that maybe it was better to just experience all kinds of emotion, rather than letting any of them define my life. Then again, maybe being any kind of positive emotion could get me through those times when I'm experiencing the negative ones. Yeah, I think that sounds like the ticket.

This is all reminding me of the Pet Shop Boys song "Being Boring," which is making me think about my daughter (who is always being bored).