Discovered Joy

As opposed to anticipated joy, as I penned it in the previous blog, discovered joy is unknown until it manifests itself; where both are similar is that they ought to be simple to be truly joyous.

Readers who know how to play chess are familiar with the term, "discovered check" and know exactly what good fortune it brings to the player responsible for making the move against the opponent's King.  For those not familiar, let me explain.  A discovered check happens when one player moves a piece or pawn away from a square to open up a lane along which another piece ( a Bishop, Rook, or Queen) has a direct line of sight towards the opponent's King in a threat that could end the game. If the King can move it may,  but at the expense of losing a piece or a pawn as a result.  Discovered checks in chess are rare and even more so among ranked players but they do occur from time to time.  Usually though, it is a game changer and often decisive in favor of the player who brandished it, more so in ranked tournaments.  But discovered checks are not truly "discovered" because they require a lot of planning, often done way too many moves before hand before it can be executed successfully.  Discovered checks, though joyous, are not simple joys to be had.

I was at Home Depot the other day looking for a caulking gun.  It has only one function.  That is because if one were to apply caulking or glue contained in a tube through a nozzle, there is no other device to do it properly and efficiently than a caulking gun.  Alas, there was not just one caulking gun to pick because there were so many choices despite the fact that there really is just one design. There is no other way, at least not as quick and as efficiently as the universally available contraption that is out there. However, the prices ranged from $3.99 to $17.99. 

One critique of the free market system is the availability of way too many choices. I looked around almost instinctively looking for help.  It so happened that there was one employee just two arms length away.  But she was busy with a cartful of sundry merchandise, that appeared to be items customers either abandoned or were too lazy to put them back where they took them in the first place, that now she had the unpleasantly menial task of returning to their proper places.  Needless to say I felt bad to ask her for something as simple as making the choice of a caulking gun. I came up with the pretext to ask if the $17.99 price was actually correct for that one item. 

"That doesn't seem right, does it"  as she un-holstered her in-store pricing gun and scanned the item.  Well, the price was correct and like me she was actually surprised.  Then she scanned the other five different ones that ranged from the $3.99 to the $6.99 ones. I told her I was taking too much of her time, almost dismissively, now that I had the answer.  But no! She wanted to see how the ratings were for each of them.  Her pricing gun can read the star ratings and comments by customers off the internet. It's a great app she said. She showed me that the $3.99 and the $17.99 both had the same 4-star ratings from various consumers who also posted their comments, some of which she read aloud for my benefit.  She turned to me and said, "You look like a do-it-yourself guy and you'll likely use this once, right?" I said, "Exactly!". She then said, "There you go.  If it were me I'd buy the $3.99".

That piece of wisdom coming from that young lady, and from someone who took the time to help me was one discovered joy.  Like most consumers, I did not expect much help from the staff of these big chain stores.  Typically, if I wanted serious help I would go to the neighborhood hardware store.  These small stores have in their employ retired plumbers and electricians and craftsmen who really know their stuff.  I've never been disappointed with them. The downside is that their prices are always on the high side, limited work hours and they are usually close on Sundays.  That young lady took the time to dispense little but real discovered joy on my part perhaps because I expected little.

"The key to happiness is low expectation".                ------ Barry Schwartz

One great example of low expectation is when the bride, instead of the conventional  traditional response, says, "You'll do".

Seriously - and I must disclose that my wife and I had been married now for 49 years and yes the wedding went as planned, despite the early morning ceremony.  Life, if we examine it closely, is full of simple anticipated and, from time to time,  little discovered joys. And most of these truly joyous ones are often free or of little cost. Somehow, there is truth to, "The best things in life are free", because life is simply made up of packets of little events, strung together to make a day, 365 days to make a year, and many years to make one lifetime.

We still need to believe in aiming high because even if we fall short we could still be farther along than had we trained our efforts low from the start. But that is not to say that there is little delight in little things.  We may aim for that one huge promotion or that much coveted dream home but keep in mind that it is the little things along the way that will lead you there. 

The optimist is someone who finds joy in little nuggets which include even tiny morsels of discovered joys.  The pessimist is someone who expects to be disappointed about something and when it doesn't come, he or she still manages to be disappointed because it didn't happen.  The optimist who trained to appreciate little joys is well equipped to deal with the big ones.  The pessimist will somehow find the little speck of discolor and misses the beauty of the whole painting.

We need to pay attention to everyday discovered joys.  The pessimist would rather  be constantly looking for the big one but when it comes he or she may still fail to appreciate it for lack of practice.

By the way, the $3.99 caulking gun did function exceptionally well and true that it will be for awhile before I ever use it again.