TRUE HAPPINESS...RETIRING, WITH FRIENDS

True happiness is of a retired nature, and an enemy to pomp and noise; it arises in the first place, from the enjoyment of one's self, and, in the next, from the friendship and conversation of a few select companions.  -- Joseph Addison, 18th century English essayist

I came across the Addison quote and felt an immediate connection...kinda like a one-sentence autobiography. Then I had to Google Joseph Addison. 

I am reminded of my promise to me early in the pandemic, to "keep my eyes on the prize," i.e., find the sliver of gold in this sucker. Honestly, to focus on finding the good in a not-good situation...this time  the pandemic...is a peacemaker. It calms my panic-prone self at any rate. 

I suspect that was the origins of my sense of connection, but when I read true happiness...arises in the first place from enjoyment of one's self, that sealed the deal. I have found a deeper contentment with my own company purely from the pandemic's forced confinement. 

However, that same forced confinement is becoming its own enemy...I am so over me. Which proves the truth of true happiness also arising from the friendship and conversation of a few select companions. Note, please, of a few select companions. That's the key for me. 

Whoa. Well, there it is. The reason why smart people keep their innermost self in wraps. The way feelings sound when described aloud and  the way feelings make themselves known inside us are as different as self-determined and God-given. 

It is a quirky fact that the human-condition difference between those who need the friendship and conversation of a few select friends versus those who need the friendship and conversation of several to many friends forms the root of too many judgments...each group judging the other adversely.

Being able to accept which need best fits us personally is the core, the very source, of true happiness: Enjoyment of one's self. The rest...friendship and conversation with a select few or with innumerable others...is the footloose and fun part for all.

Thank you.