This is October 8th, 2021. It occurred to me when I woke up this morning that I often use the word “happiness”, but happiness means different things to different people. Therefore, I will start this post with a definition that I like. “Happiness is the feeling of contentment, or positive well-being, combined with a sense that one’s life is good, meaningful, and worthwhile.” This is the state of mind I’m trying to achieve. That’s not easy in a world of constant distractions, polarizing tribalism, disagreements and endless advertising trying to convince you that you are unhappy and need to buy something to make yourself happy. I will now climb down from my soap box. Today is National Fluffernutter Day, National Pierogi Day, Alvin C. York Day, World Octopus Day, International Lesbian Day, and World Egg Day. Now let’s see what happened on October 8th. On this day in 1775, Officers decided to ban slaves and free Blacks from serving in the Continental Army. On this day in 1871 there were two large fires. A forest fire destroyed Peshtigo, Wisconsin, killing between 1,200 and 2,500 people, making it the deadliest wildfire in recorded history, and the Great Fire of Chicago which killed 200 people and destroys over 4 square miles of buildings and the original Emancipation Proclamation. This happens to be the day in 1918 that Alvin attacked a machine gun nest, killed at least 25 and captured 132 Germans all by himself. On this day in 1962, North Korea held an election and claimed that 100% of the people voted and all 100% of them voted for the Worker’s Party. This is also the day in 1971 that John Lennon released “Imagine”. Since I started this post with a definition of happiness, I’ll end it with some quotes on the subject. “Happiness is not something readymade. It comes from your own actions.” Dalai Lama. “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” Mahatma Gandhi. “Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be”. Abraham Lincoln. I’ll end this post with a quote from Alice Walker who said, “Don’t wait around for other people to be happy for you. Any happiness you get you’ve got to make yourself.” Abide.
