Throughout my late twenties and into my thirties, I had said often to myself and others, “I’m the happiest guy I know”.
It always just occurred to me to be the case, as I was generally quite happy with everything in life; work, family, relationships, adventure, health. I didn’t say it obnoxiously, I just shared it when relevant because it seemed to be true.
However, when I discovered the world of personal development, people said to me things like: “You are deluding yourself.” “Nobody is that happy.” “You must have some stuff that you need to uncover.”
Slowly, these remarks made me doubt the validity of my statement. Eventually, I stopped saying it, and with that, I stopped thinking it too.
Through enlightening work with my coach Steve this year, I discovered that my doubt was the actual delusion.
Over the past month, I’ve taken to using the phrase again. It feels at home and familiar for me to genuinely say, “I’m the happiest guy I know”.
Importantly, I also see now how my speaking this phrase was and is not only a description but also a creation.
Since speaking and thinking it again, I have felt the idea come back to life in me and my world.
I’m smiling at people more because that’s what the happiest guy does.
I find things bother me less because the happiest guy isn’t bothered by much.
I’m noticing it’s easier to let go because if I’m the happiest guy, I must not hold on to stuff.
I’ve even noticed people saying it to me too. The other day a guy said to me, “You’re so happy!” and just now, on the way to the airport, my Uber driver said, “You’re such a positive guy!”
Someone asked me once….
“How do you know there is nobody happier than you?”
“I don’t!”, I said. “I’m just that happiest guy that I know.”
“Yeah, but what if you meet someone happier than you?”
“Then I become as happy as them. If I see a way to be happier, I just be that. I love when this happens. Why would I want to be any less happy than I know I can be?”
“OK, but what if someone is happier than you realize? What if they are happier than you, but you don’t know it because you mistakenly think they’re less happy?”
“Well, I don’t know how happy people are FOR THEM. All I know is how happy I know (perceive) them to be. And as far as this is concerned, I am the happiest. I will take all the happy anyone I meet has to offer.”
“I get it, but still…isn’t it a bit conceited to say you are the happiest guy you know?”
“The first time I ever said it, I said it because I wanted the person I was speaking to know that being the happiest person you know is possible.
Since then, every time I have spoken it, I have done so not only to describe my experience of myself but also as an offering of a possibility.
Call this conceited if you want, but to me it feels like a gift. What I see happen to people when I share it with them is a beautiful thing. They get happier.”
How does it make YOU feel?
