Stuck in traffic

I saw a woman while in traffic - one hand on the steering wheel, the other hand on the door propping her head as it hung to the side. Her face told a story, pouting, sad vacant eyes, lifeless skin. This woman in traffic seemed like the poster child for misery. She was oblivious to me or any one else for that matter observing her discontent - she was in her private space. That's the thing about alone time, (where ever you get it) - when you're alone, with your thoughts and your emotions, there is not the distraction of interaction with other humans beings that keep some of the more unsavory parts of your life at bay; your thoughts and emotions can run amuck.

The rancorous woman in traffic may be the most jovial person you would ever meet. In her world when she's not alone you would believe her to be happy - but she is only distracted from the unhappiness of her life. I was once like that woman in traffic - searching for happiness outside myself in the many distractions of my existence, drifting further away from a state (albeit relatively temporary) of happiness. The people in our lives and the things we do with our life contribute to our happiness; but in the absence of those people and things can we still be happy.

I've been asking myself these questions about happiness for a while now - I never got a copy of the happiness manual (hence I make it up as I go along), so I'm not to sure how it is to be pursued. What I have noticed is that everyone has a different version of happiness and most people think that everyone should be following their version of happiness. Some of us are so convinced by what other people perceive to be happiness that we spend our unhappy days trying to be as happy as the next person.

The unhappy woman sitting in traffic is one of many people walking around unhappy, unsure how to be happy; you see them everyday, at work, at the bank, in the supermarket, at the bars. At some point in our lives we are all unhappy - it becomes a problem when unhappiness becomes us; I have said it before and I'll say it again, we were not placed on this earth to be unhappy; there is too much beauty in this world to allow one's self to remain in a permanent state of misery.

I watched the woman in traffic, drive away; if she were walking she would be hunched over (she might be dead from it - perhaps she would be numbed ) from what seem to be the weight of the world on her tiny shoulders - I could not help but feel pity for her, she seemed lost, sad, depressed, desperately waiting to be rescued from her misery by someone other than herself. I watched her and wondered, what is her story and where does it end. For her sake I hope it is happily ever after.