The Key to Happiness

Its simple, it really is, being happy. I was going to draw this out and explain how I discovered they key to being happy. I was going to have this whole big build up and then leave you with that final epiphone. But I'm not going to. I'm going to be straight up with you and tell you right now. The key to being happy is watching the sun rise. That's it. Its that simple. Watching the sun rise is the key to happiness, and now I'm going to tell you how I came up with that.

First, lets start with the two most obvious. The sun rise is beautiful. I mean, have you ever watched one? Like, really watched it? It's fucking amazing. The dark night slowly fading away to reveal that pre-dawn light where everything is just kind of there and the explosion of color as the sun peaks over the horizon filling the formerly gray world with color. Its beautiful. And when you think about it, what is "being happy" if its not living a life that is beautiful.

The next obvious reason is the whole metaphorical one. You know... A new day, new beginning. A fresh start. If yesterday was bad, then its the sign that yesterday is completely over and today has begun. Anything that needs to be left behind is officially behind and we are free to begin anew. If yesterday was great, well then today provides us with another opportunity to experience that greatness. The sun rise brings with it a blank canvas upon which we can create anything we desire.

Ok, those were the obvious ones. Those were the reasons that anyone can see just by watching the sun rise. I will highlite three particular sunrises that brought me to my conclusion.

The first sunrise I ever remember seeing was the day after my mom had her stroke. I was seven years old and had no idea what happened, let alone what was going to happen to me over the course of the next few months. I knew that my mom was sick and I was staying at a friend's house down the block. Even though it had been a light night--a scary night--I couldn't sleep. I remember sitting up most of the night in my friend's living room gripping a flashlight that I used to keep under my pillow to keep the monsters at bay. That whole night I stared at the window waiting for... I don't know what I was waiting for. I guess I was waiting for the night to just come to an end. I was waiting for a new day to start. I was waiting for someone to tell me what was happening--waiting for someone to tell me that everything was going to be ok. Really, though, I guess I was probably waiting for my mom to come home. As the stars began to fade away and the trees that had been invisible all night slowly came in to focus I moved my vigil from the living room floor to the front stoop. The air was still warm. It was late August. I was wearing my spiderman pajamas and still gripping that flashlight as if letting it go was letting go of the only light I would ever hold close again. I was sitting there thinking whatever it is that seven year old boys think about during rough times. And then the sun started rising. I saw shadows where there weren't any before. Color was creeping in to the sky. It all happened so fast. The sky went from grey to orange to yellow and then the sun burst up so quickly I couldn't stop rubbing my eyes and then there it was. The sun hung just over the treeline, a golden ball surrounded by deep orange in the now blue sky. I remember being amazed about how fast it was. Being surrounded by darkness, then the sun rise--so amazing--and then just like that, it was a day just like all the others I'd seen before it. And, right then, that was exactly what I needed. Something beautiful and amazing followed by a day like any other.

The second sun rise I shall use as proof for my hypothesis took place while I was in college. I know I've told you guys that I used to go for longs walks with my friends back then, but for those of you that are new to The Life of Dave.... I used to go for long walks with my friends back then. There were only three people that really accompanied me on these late night treks. One I married, the other was Mary and the third was Bryan. It didn't matter which of the three it was, all of the walks went about the same way. Actually, scratch that. At some point the walks with the one I married turned into more than just walks, if you know what I mean... but besides that, they were all the same. The walks would usually start around midnight, we would talk about whatever it was in the world that was bothering us and we never cared where we went. We walked just to be outside and enjoy each other's company. On one such walk (this one with the one I married) we ended up stopping by a friend's graphic design lab in the middle of the night to bring him a snack, knowing he'd be there working late. He did that. While there, he told us about the late nights he and his fellow students would be up so late working that they pilfered a key to the roof to go up and watch the sun rise as a break from the computer screens. We thought this was a fantastic idea and vowed to return at dawn to enjoy this ritual with a close friend. Fast forward a few more hours, more than a few miles and we returned to the same place. The three of us went up to the roof of the Fine Arts building where there were already chairs set up for the students to unwind. We sat on that roof talking until the sky began to get just a shade lighter. As we talked, our eyes kept darting back to the horizon waiting for that first great ray of light to break. After about twenty more minutes of gray sky, we realized that it was just too overcast. The sun had risen behind a layer of clouds. We all just looked at each other with such disappointment on our faces. The company could not have been better, but the thing that had brought us together never came. Looking back on that night the main thing I remember is that feeling that something was missed.

Flash forward a few weeks and the opposite happened. I was on a walk with Bryan and we just talked the whole night. At one point we realized that the sun was going to rise shortly, so we went to a building where my friend Kate was working ridiculously early. We kidnapped her from her office and dragged her outside where we just watched the sun rise over the campus. After the beautiful show, we went back inside and continued talking for who knows how long. We shared something that day and we were all happy. Thinking back to how content we were after watching the sun rise makes the disappointment for missing it with the girl I loved that much worse.

So there you have it, folks... Whether you're staying up way too late or waking up way too early you should treat yourself from time to time.

Watch the sun rise.

You won't be disappointed.