Easily Delighted

I’ve been playing with ChatGPT lately. Curious about what it had picked up from our interactions, I asked, “What do you know about me?” It didn’t take long to come back with an answer. Some of the things were obvious: I love my family and I love to travel. But there was one statement that caught my attention:

“You are easily delighted. You refuse to become too sophisticated to enjoy something ridiculous.”

This was a true statement, but I wondered what made artificial intelligence come to that conclusion, so I asked, “What makes you say that?” I was offered examples of jumping frogs and Buc-ee’s, neither of which has any form of sophistication.

Maybe I should have been offended, but I wasn’t in the least. I was actually pretty pleased with myself for living authentically, because I believe there is joy to be found in every thing, place, person, or moment we experience. The key to happiness is finding that joy in the most ridiculous or mundane places. And when you practice this perspective, you can discover the joy in the tough moments too.

Is it silly to make Leroy pull over when I see a state line monument or pull into a parking lot I’ve seen on reality TV? Probably. But was it worth it? Sure. It was fun, and it marked a moment in time instead of just letting it pass us by.

I hope I never become too sophisticated to enjoy those things. There are still plenty of ridiculous places to stop and ordinary moments to get excited about. And as long as Leroy is willing to go along with me, I plan to keep finding them. Life is tough, but if we continue to look for joy, we will find it.