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by: RickLondon
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A female friend sent me a private message not long ago and asked me my secret to happiness. There was a long pause. She typed the sound (in text) of the "Jeopardy" theme song in between final jeopardy as if I were running out of time for the answer.

As a kid, the medical community considered me dysthymic and without much motivation. Actually, that was a symptom of my boredom, and didn't have a lot to do with my brain chemistry. I had a relatively high IQ in (Mississippi) in their public schools, and very little could attract my attention; except when girls started wearing shorter skirts.

Psychologists tell us we are not all, but part of a product of our environments. I did not grow up in a happy environment. Nor did a lot of others. I don't even use the word dysfunctional anymore, since it is such a common phrase and it seems everyone "had it at one time or another". But those days are way in my past and I have had many happy and joyful experiences since that time. Many were small and many monumental. They each added up to my happiness, I suppose.

Happiness, to me, if there is such a thing, is really getting down to basics. By basics I mean go as far back as The U.S. Constitution "...and the pursuit of happiness" which is actually written by these stern men with no smiles, at least not in their renderings, but they knew the importance of it.

Shakespeare, like many writers, instinctively knew how important it was to be true to oneself. He coined the phrase "To thine own self be true". He didn't say that just to show off. He was providing years of therapy into one sentence. If one is true to oneself, the amount of money, fame, or any other trappings don't mean a thing.

With this in mind, let's count how many ways we compromise our happiness, or make certain it does not happen. We take jobs which are terrible but pay well. We do not like our co-workers and they do not like us. We do not like our boss and he does not like us either. We get married and have kids out of peer pressure. All our friends and associates did it, but we were not ready, or the opposite. We decided not to get married as we grew up in an unhappy home, and we would "show our parents with sweet revenge" (That was my modus operandi for many years). Suddenly it occurred to me they didn't care what I did as long as I was in the pursuit of happiness. Besides, they were deceased. Or we spend too much on credit to impress someone or a lot of people and then feel the pressure as the bills come.

I learned that thought the book was great, never to take "Everything I Ever Needed To Know I Learned In Kindergarten" too literally. Yes, it offered some pragmatic lessons and great analogies, but the most powerful lessons I have learned, to transcend from sadness and depression, have been mistakes made in adulthood. I make less of them now, but I still make them. I don't get all upset when I do. I realize there is a lesson about to be learned.

I don't know that I am a happy person, but I am a lot happier than I was ten years ago, and I hope a decade from now I'm a lot happier than I am now. To repeat a great movie phrase from Robert DeNiro to Billy Crystal in "Analyze That" "It's a process, doc".

When I simplify my life and make myself healthier, I make myself available to more emotionally available people. That part is my responsibility. I cannot ask the universe to do it for me. It won't. I have to do the legwork. It is fine to pray if you are a believer (and I am), but whether you are or not )a believer), the legwork still has to be done.

Don't quit your day job, but learn new subjects. Start a hobby. It might turn into a business one day. You never know. That is what happened to me. I started creating cartoons as a hobby, never thinking in a million years it would be more than a hobby. Ten years later it is the largest offbeat cartoon website on the Internet, Londons Times Cartoons with ten niche and superstore gift shops, and over 100,000 funny gifts and collectibles bearing our cartoon images. It was only because I was true to myself. I no longer have or want my day job, thank you very much.

I am not saying one has to work in the world of cartooning or humor to be happy. But it doesn't hurt to expose oneself to it.

When I was losing my mother to cancer, I read a book by retired surgeon Dr. Bernie Siegel who wrote a best-seller in the 1980's, Love, Laughter, And Healing. He had incurable brain cancer and exposed himself to many comedy movies, videos, cartoons, books, etc. He didn't know if it would help heal him, but he knew he would at least get to laugh in his final days. Within a few years, the cancer was in remission and he still is alive and writing two decades later. I have talked to him several times on the phone, when mom was sick, and he gave me some direction as to what life is about. And adding humor to it seemed to be a necessity.

Aside from Dr. Seigel's advice, a Gary Larson Far Side exhibit I saw in Washington, D.C in 1986 maybe had the most impact on me to demonstrate just how important humor is in our culture. Dr. Seigel taught me how healing it is. Knowing I am in a field that makes people laugh and feel healed, offers a great deal of joy into my own life. So helping others is an action in my pursuit of hapiness.

Sharing a joke, a funny book or story, or even a cartoon gift with someone is something that will cheer them up. It has a synergistic effect and will do the same for you. I have tried it many times and it's a sure-fire remedy for what ails you. I am not saying not to listen to professional medical advice, just saying it is a great way to add to one's happiness, hence your own.

About the Author

The Internet's most popular offbeat cartoon is Londons Times www.londonstimes.us by Rick London. He also has numerous cartoon funny gift shops which he feels help spread happiness One of Rick's Largest Funny Store is is Top Cartoonist Rick London Shares Ways To Become Happier

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