Revelations on Jane

I was in the British Library Gift Shop yesterday (Mr. Fine and I are in London) and was looking at the Jane Austen section...notably the pack of postcards with Jane Austen quotations.  One such postcard made me stop and think:

Know your own happiness.

[from Sense and Sensibility...Mrs. Dashwood (Volume 1, Chapter 19)]

After pondering the quotation for a moment, I sat down on my favorite book bench in the lobby and thought some more.

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Sometimes I wonder if I am consciously (or subconsciously) striving for what makes others happy.  For example, I do this to build my resume, I go to this because so and so is doing it, etc.  I do these things because other people seem happy after doing this or achieving this and therefore, happiness should follow for me, should I embark on that same journey.  Yet, I typically find I need to keep embarking for that happiness when they've already disembarked that ship and gone onto something else (most likely the cruise ship down the way).

Happiness isn't the same for all of us.  [Some of you may be thinking duh, Mrs. Fine]

I need to be better at acknowledging what makes me happy, being happy in that happy, and disregarding the other journeys which make others happy (but which may not make me happy).

Huh.  I need to know my own happiness and be comfortable in it.

Well, I'm happy right now.  Mr. Fine and I have been coming to London for summers for about 10 years and lived here for over a year once.  I am happy in London.  I like my London life.  I like the pubs we go to with friends (we're lucky that our friends like to come to London for summers too) and the Ploughman's dinners I can eat (last night's was delicious!).  I like the walks we take to get home instead of piling into a car.

I'm also very happy with my fish and chips and grocery delivery:

I could likely think about this some more (and likely will) but not today.  I'm off to my favorite shops and to lunch with Mr. Fine.  Thanks for listening!  No more philosophizing today.... ;)