Forty-two

Mouse: What does that mean?
Cypher: It doesn’t mean anything.

I went with my dad to a concert at the Goethe Institut yesterday. Well, we tried to. We learned, upon arrival, that the German piano-cello-violin trio had canceled their brazilian tour at the last minute. Nothing else to do, and as they had this german-styled bar at the Institute's entrance, my dad invited me to a German beer, an offer I promptly accepted.

My German teacher, Magda, once explained her views on what a typical German considers to bring the most profound happiness - in her view, that was the sense of accomplishment. As I sat and drank my beer(s), I pondered over that idea. All my tasks for the day had been successfully carried off, and that indeed allowed me to enjoy the evening all the more. Of course, I could have had a good time even with tasks still open - which has, for sure, happened on other occasions - but the perception of relative freedom certainly amplificates this feeling.

Which then brought me to the second pseudo-philosophical issue of the evening - motivated in part by my recent readings of the development of the quantum theory - "how reality is defined by how we perceive things, and not necessarily by the facts themselves" (*). The old question of the glass being half-full or half-empty, I guess. Given some random fact, I can either examine it under a negative light, or give it a positive spin and try to make the best out of whatever can be made of it. Some time ago, I made a choice to try and follow the second route whenever I could. Sometimes the situation looked grim, and my choice had to be reminded, most frequently by my closest friends, which would then put myself back on a positive spiral (aren't my friends great?). Accomplishing lots in different fields did help keep my spirit high - so even if I get less-than-stellar results in one area, I can usually more than make up for that in another. Again back to the tune of accomplishment - for good or worse, being analytical in nature, I tend to measure myself. Still, sometimes the most genuine happiness comes from little, unmeasurable things. As wisely put by Moni, allowing one to enjoy those little moments - and to do it often - that is the ultimate goal in, or meaning to, life. :-)

(*) One may ask, indeed, if an underlying reality exists at all. In Physics, I tend to favour the Kopenhagen interpretation, and I'll consider to hold a similar position to answer, in the broader sense, the question I posed.