A long time ago I had a history professor that said, “Define happiness and I’ll show you a man that is happy.”
I’m writing this from my cozy little apartment here in Japan. The small city is lit up under a beautiful night sky. Some cars can be heard going by every now and then but it’s still a quiet Sunday night.
Today I woke up and got coffee from the fridge. I love Japanese caned coffee. I worked on a writing project for a good couple of hours. Later, I did some laundry and cleaned up my apartment.
Recently, I was talking to a friend and he asked me if I was happy. I’ve been thinking a lot about the conversation we had and I’ve been replaying it over in my mind. I’m not sure why he asked me this. I think he might be unhappy. He’s a good guy and he has a decent job back home and lives in a very nice city. He’s always been a friendly and happy person.
“Am I happy?”
I answered, “Yes.” But of course I’m human and I get lonely. Loneliness is when you want someone to talk to or be with and you don’t have anyone. I think it’s more about ” “thinking you’re lonely” than actually being lonely. Being alone is be by yourself and being content to be by yourself. I did have some moments yesterday that were lonely. I was going to grab a burger and needed to find an ATM machine. I found one but it wouldn’t take my card. I found another ATM but it wasn’t open. Ugh. I walked a few blocks and finally found a 7-11 ATM. As I was walking I was thinking about how it would be nice to have a friend to talk to or just hang out with. Since I just moved here I don’t know anyone. But I don’t consider myself lonely. I think the reason many people never leave their hometown is they don’t want to be alone and experience being alone in a new environment. I’ve lived in more than a few countries and I’m very used to being on my own. If fact a lot of times I prefer it. I went back to the burger place and ordered.
Ace in Asia 