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Jakarta Post

yoz's SAY-SO : On a clear day, you can see forever...

There are many meanings of happiness, and the ways people view it or later try to acquire it are also very diverse

Yoz Tanuwiria (The Jakarta Post)
JAKARTA
Sun, January 17, 2010 Published on Jan. 17, 2010 Published on 2010-01-17T15:06:48+07:00

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T

here are many meanings of happiness, and the ways people view it or later try to acquire it are also very diverse. I recently heard a song from 1929, sung by Barbra Streisand at her 30th anniversary concert in 1993, called "It All Depends on You". The background music was almost as merry as a clam but the lyrics were awful.

It went: "I can be happy, I can be sad. I can be good or I can be bad. It all depends on you." What is with that?! Does that mean I can only be happy if others make me feel that way? Is it right to let others make me feel bad about myself when I know I may not be as bad as they think? That is absurd.

The one thing I know for sure is that I can't look to somebody else for my own happiness. This is because nobody knows what I think - what my desires are, what my reasoning is for my every action and what makes me the person I am at the moment - better than myself. So, I can't let people put a measuring tape on every single decision I make.

People generally only focus on negative things, and as Roman philosophers once said "human beings crave most for the power to diminish" - and I believe this is true. People need to find their equilibrium. And the bad news always seems to travel faster than the good.

If I accidentally say something harsh and mildly insinuate something about someone, it will linger far longer than if I bite my tongue to hold back my anger from harsher insinuations derived by harsher persecutors.

The part of phrase "you can see forever" can be translated as "see through your internal thoughts", which means that when you come to fully understand your whole being, and as you get older, you will begin to feel that you can accept your flaws and everything else around you.

You will feel you've survived the tribulations and life's disappointments, and that you can accept the fact that life is not as beautiful as it is written on the covers of books or in advertisements.

Life is a matter of our approach, and as Celine Dion once said in an interview, "Life has been the same way since day one, and what it has to offer has remained unchanged.

It is only how we approach this life that matters. Whether we want to take it seriously into our grasp and seize every opportunity, or just let it pass us by."

A citation from the song, *On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever)':

On a clear day

Rise and look around you And you'll see who you are. On a clear day How it will astound you That the glow of your being outshines ev'ry star. You'll feel part of ev'ry mountain, sea and shore. You can hear, from far and near, A world you've never heard before. And on a clear day... On that clear day... You can see forever and ever more!

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