What’s a common misconception people have about happiness?
My mother used to say that being happy was what mattered. At the time I found this hard to swallow. She had given up much of her life as a talented artist to be a wife and mother, and she spoke from experience about the cost of choosing money over love.
For years I treated happiness as something that would arrive later: after the right job, the right promotion, the right level of security or status. Yet some of my happiest moments came when I stopped calculating. Working on a film set. Skiing with friends. Falling in love. Watching my children grow up.
Now, in my sixties, happiness seems less like a prize and more like a by-product. It appears unexpectedly: in the laughter of teenage swimmers fooling around in a pool, a meal shared and enjoyed, a sketch that makes me smile, a story that carries me away, the warmth of the sun, a thriving garden.
The misconception is that happiness is something to pursue directly. I’ve found it usually turns up while you’re paying attention to something else – with a quiet smile on your face.
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