ath3na's talking points

Because I've had a lot of change going on in my life recently, I thought it appropriate to summarize my recent experiences with a collection of quotes I've found, and comment on them.

“We take great pains to persuade others that we are happy than in to think so ourselves.” - Confucious

This quote is so true to how we all feel, I believe. Confucious has this way of touching the part of our persona we don't let out much. He's very right though, we go through these acts, with the world as our stage (Shakespearean, I know), playing our lives out, vying to convince the world that we are something we aren't [always]. For once in my life though, I've convinced myself (though temporary it may be), that I am indeed happy.

"Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever." - Kerri Russell

Isn't this the truth? It's often the smallest decisions that make the biggest impact on our lives. These decisions are also, often, the decisions we spend more time acting on rather than thinking on. Aren't we a genius species?!

“All of life is a journey which paths we take, what we look back on, and what we look forward to is up to us. We determine our destination, what kind of road we will take to get there, and how happy we are when we get there.” - Anonymous

I'd like to reference the Confucious quote here, because it's pertinent to this particular quote as well. I'd also like to make note of the last phrase of this quote: We determine...how happy we are when we get there. It's not the world that needs convincing of our happiness, it's ourselves. Once you convince yourself that you are indeed happy, then the world will know, without your effort.

“The most wonderful of all things in life, I believe, is the discovery of another human being with whom one's relationship has a growing depth, beauty, and joy as the years increase. This inner progressiveness of love between two human beings is a most marvelous thing; it cannot be found by looking for it or by passionately wishing for it. It is a sort of divine accident, and the most wonderful of all things in life.”- Hugh Walpole, Sr.

Isn't it wonderful to find another person in this world with whom your soul can agree? It's such a rare occurrence, and one that you can never expect or plan for. This is most definitely the most wonderful of all things in life.

“Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief.”- Marcus Tullius Cicero

True friendship is hard to find, but easy to keep. Once you find it, it's like enlightenment, it is pure joy (which is the name of this post, in Simplified Chinese).

I hope that if you know me already, I've helped you find some joy, and if I ever meet you, that I can help spread the joy that has been endowed to me. I hope that I can choose to be as happy with life, as I am right now.