“But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads?”
-Albert Camus
No one can experience true happiness without living out that happiness. The only way one can actually live out that happiness is to simply go out and live, and enjoy every moment of it. We shouldn’t spend our days hidden within our own private lives. It leads to nothing but boredom and exhaustion.
I’ve experienced this concept first hand. This past summer I lived alone, sulking around my apartment, dwelling on things that had recently went wrong in my life. I spent each day pacing around in my apartment, bored looking for something to do, but with no motivation to take action at all.
My biology professor once spoke of how studies have shown that captive animals in zoos tend to develop erratic behaviors, one being the aforementioned pacing back and forth. By confining these animals and striping them of their freedom, you also remove any form of excitement in their lives.
So there I was, like the caged snow leopards at the central park zoo. I desperately wanted to break free of the boredom I had imprisoned myself in, but unfortunately, I was too comfortable within my cage to even consider leaving. In the end result, I would always find myself in a worse mood than I had started the day with, and I would retire to bed only to wake up and repeat the process the following day.
It’s hard to believe that anyone can be bored and alone living in such a large city as New York, but somehow I had managed to do so. Personally I was never the one to make friends with strangers. But I tried, and in most cases failed, and thus remained alone in my empty apartment.
Although I had a few run ins with some friends every once in a while, the real interactions with people I had, were the days I had spent working or interning. So I would run away to my past life, back to the people I had waiting for me back in Long Island.
I would smile and laugh with my friends, but it was all just empty. None of them knew what I was going through, or probably even knew any way how to help, but it was fine, I was home and away from all the problems that awaited me back in the city.
Looking back now, I realize there’s so much that I could have changed to make it possibly one of the best summers of my life, but that’s just foolish. If I’ve learned one thing in the past few months, it’s to live in the present, and towards my future, and not dwell in the past.
There is so much to do in this city. It was buzzing with of life, yet I hid from it. I don’t know why, I just did. But then again, I had no motivation to do anything with myself.
Then one evening, towards the end of the summer, I just went out for a walk. I walked all over. Metric’s Collect Call was playing through my iPod headphones, and I was soaking up everything there was to see, enjoying everything this city had to offer. It was that day, that I decided to go out and live.
No more sulking. No more pacing. I was free. Free of the boredom, and ready to start living my life. Let me tell you, it feels amazing.
So I offer this to those of you who are interested. Leave whatever has bothered you in the past, and get out and live. Live in the present. Live for yourself. Most of all, live out that happiness.
I’ve found my happiness in life, my OneHealthyWay you can say, and I want to share it with everyone who reads this. Through this blog, I will be chronicling everything; from the adventures I take to the people I meet. I want to inspire happiness in all of your lives. So together, let’s get out there and live.
-Eric Vitale
