EC: The Happiness Cliche

       Reading My Own Life by Oliver Sacks was enlightening. We very often discuss the concept of living with no regrets and being able to look back on our life and say that we were happy and lived well. This concept is almost a cliche. That being said, I feel like Sacks takes this concept to a different level and/or explains it from a different perspective. This isn't coming from our high school principal on graduation day, but from a man whose very breaths are numbered by days. I think that this shows how real and important it is to be happy and fulfilled when it is one's time to leave this life. 
      It is common that when one is faced with death, their view of the world and the life that they're living is altered. Oliver Sacks describes his personal alteration as a "detachment" from the world. He realized that his time would soon be over. It was no longer his duty to contribute to the world, but rather to recognize his contributions. It was not a time for him to busy himself with the mistakes of his past, but rather what he has accomplished and what was important in that very moment. Sacks didn't want to be burdened with the world's problems nor any extra distractions. He explains it perfectly well here: "I have to live in the richest, deepest, most productive way I can". 
     As I ponder Oliver Sacks' words, I am once again thankful for this cliche, as I believe it to be one. I think that living life to the fullest and that the most important thing in life to be is happy, rings true despite its repetition and overuse. As we discussed in class, our society has a skewed view of what happiness is and it is almost always equated to success - monetarily mostly. This article helped clarify that happiness can be completely separate from money and as demonstrated in different cultures, money often is out of the "happiness equation". Oliver Sacks gave me hope that when it comes time for me to say goodbye to all I love, that I will be able to do so with a smile, confidence that I am leaving the world in a better position than it was before me, and an extreme sense of happiness.