When I was around seven, my brother and I were enrolled at a small school which had a large activity field. During the summer months, the loose sand was whipped up by the late afternoon winds resulting in mini-dust storms, while during the wet months, the constant rains would create muddy rivulets amidst the green, green grass.
That wide open field became our playground. We made trails, ran around the adjoining trees, and played marbles on the hardened ground. There were a lot of amusement parks by then, but somehow that dusty, muddy field was the place to be for us. Nothing could replace the feeling of having dusty faces or banged-up knees after an afternoon of play out there!
One time, a classmate and I decided to do some "eating" underneath a nearby tree. The ground was moist and rich, so with our bare hands we clawed up balls of earth, flattened them with our palms, and - presto! - out came a couple of pancakes which we would spread back on the ground.
The principal, an interesting old lady, passed by. She took one look at our "meal" and... wait, what do you think she would have said? Now, what would a schoolmarm say (and possibly do) if she saw two young students literally getting themselves dirty? "Get out of there, it's dirty!"? "You'll get a lot of germs!"? Or, "Play elsewhere, kids"?
She did not say any of these, nope. Instead she nodded in delight, smiled and said, "May I buy a pancake?" Then, she gave us a look of approval and went on her way. We continued making a couple more of our earthy delights, before deciding to feast on something actually edible.
This experience has never really left my mind. It taught me that happiness is what we make of it, and that we can find happiness in whatever situation is we do our best to look for it. It also taught me that when we are really happy, we can radiate that happiness to others, and those others will reciprocate with more happiness in return. Happiness begets happiness, right?
I call this the Pancake Principle. As you make yourself happy, it spreads not just within you but also around you. And then, it comes back to you. Like the shape of the batter as it is ladled on the griddle, it comes full circle, becoming one perfect whole. And doesn't that happy feeling taste so good?