One Fine Day

Happiness is something you do not seek at times. It just comes along the way. Yesterday was one of those days. I was happy and it came as a delightful surprise. Nothing spectacular or epic occurred  It was just one fine day.

For the first time I enjoyed being back teaching again at a place I retired from for an emergency semestral long assignment. I was joking with my students during the prelab lecture and during the lab. It was a so called dry lab wherein no chemicals were used. Instead students were connecting sticks and colored balls to make three dimensional models of molecules .This process is supposed to help them tackle the difficult topic of stereochemistry, an important part of organic chemistry. It helps them visualize the molecules instead of just seeing their two dimensional structures on paper.

The day before, I spent hours reviewing the concepts, reading the manual and viewing excellent Youtube videos on the topic. I felt confident and well prepared going into my class. This particular lab activity was less hectic than a wet lab where students are abuzz with preparing set ups made of glass and handling chemicals. In this dry lab no unpredictable things could happen like spilled reagents, glass wares breaking and equipment not working. I did not have to deal with students ' questions of why things are not working as expected either. Questions were also asked in this wet lab or model building exercise which were challenging but predictable and I was well prepared to answer them.

Yesterday I finally was able to enjoy a leisurely lunch at one of the school cafeterias. The lab finished an hour early. My friend, the dean of the Natural Sciences and Mathematics Division, suddenly popped beside me at my table.  At the next table, I engaged a couple of nursing faculty members for a chat. The vegan dishes I had and the pork loin entree were delicious. Everything was coming up roses for me food wise too.

When I walked from the cafeteria to my office and into the building corridors, happy memories started coming back including the giddy feeling that came with it. Have I finally adjusted to getting back to work after three years of being retired or was it because the glands in my body were spewing endorphins all over my brain and were just making me see everything rosy pink?

No matter what the reasons were, it was one fine day to cherish. Perhaps happiness cannot be figured out as some chemical equation or formula. It should, if it comes, just be enjoyed to the fullest until another one comes along the way.