My friend said something to me the other day that I haven't been able to shake.
He looked at me over his coffee, that knowing look people
get when they've lived long enough to stop caring about looking silly, and
said:
"Royce, did you know that if you get happy enough, you
can actually hear colors and see music?"
I laughed. Then I stopped laughing.
Because he wasn't joking. Not entirely.
Think about it. When was the last time you were truly,
deeply, unreasonably happy? Not just "fine." Not just "not
stressed." But the kind of happy where the world looked different. Where
problems that seemed enormous yesterday suddenly felt manageable. Where you
found yourself smiling at a stranger for no reason at all.
In that state, strange things happen.
You paint without numbers. The rigid rules you
usually live by, the shoulds, the musts, the "what will people think",
they loosen their grip. You colour outside the lines, and it turns out
beautiful.
You eat dessert and lose weight. Not literally,
of course. But when you're truly happy, food becomes nourishment again, not a weapon,
a comfort, or a punishment. You enjoy the cake without the guilt. And somehow,
that peace matters more than the calories.
You spend money and have more. Not because of
magic. But because happy people spend differently. They spend on experiences,
on connection, on things that actually matter. And those investments pay
dividends that no bank can match.
You love unconditionally. The grudges you've
been carrying? They suddenly feel too heavy for the journey. The small slights
you've been rehearsing in your head? You forget what they were about. Love
flows more freely because you're not guarding yourself against hurt that hasn't
happened yet.
You feel as if you can live forever. Not in a
denial-of-death way. In a "this moment is so full that time itself seems
to pause" way. In a way that makes eighty years feel like a beginning, not
an ending.
I can hear you now. "That's lovely, Royce. But you
don't know my life. You don't know the stress, the bills, the losses, the news
cycle, the family drama."
You're right. I don't know your specific battles. But I know
this: happiness is not the absence of problems. Happiness is the ability to
breathe anyway.
The world has always been mad. There has never been a golden
age without war, without worry, without heartbreak. The difference is not in
the world. The difference is in where we place our attention.
Happiness does not require you to ignore real problems. It
requires you to stop letting those problems steal every single moment of joy
you could otherwise have.
You don't get to "hear colors" overnight. But you
can start moving in that direction today.
Stop scrolling. The news will be there in an
hour. The arguments will continue without you. Put the phone down. Look out a
window. Notice that the sky is doing something interesting.
Do one thing you used to love. Before life got
so serious. Before you became the person who always says, "I'm too
busy." Do that thing. Even for ten minutes.
Find someone who needs encouragement. The
fastest path to your own happiness is making someone else a little happier.
Call a friend who's struggling. Write a note. Show up.
Forgive yourself. For the mistakes. For the
weight you've gained. For the patience you lost. For the years you spent
grinding instead of living. Let it go. You did the best you could with what you
knew. Now you know more.
Expect good things. This sounds simple, but it's
profound. Happy people expect that things might work out. Not naively. Not
without planning. But they wake up believing that something good could happen
today. And that belief changes how they see everything.
My friend was teasing me, of course. You can't literally
hear colors or see music. But you can get close. You can reach a state where
life feels richer, fuller, stranger, and more wonderful than you ever imagined
possible.
It's not about ignoring the stress and madness. It's about
refusing to let them have the final word.
So, here's my invitation to you. This week, get a little
happier. Not for anyone else. For yourself. See what shifts. See what becomes
possible.
You might be surprised.
And if you figure out how to eat dessert and lose weight,
please call me. I have questions.
"We don't laugh because we're happy. We're happy
because we laugh." , Probably
someone who got happy enough, said this.
