I get a little self-conscious about the fact that I’m so earnest on my blog sometimes, since I’m kind of a smart-ass in person. But I figure I’ll never regret putting myself out there, even if it’s stuff that I’d mock myself for, if somebody else finds it useful.

Good news, then, when I read Sameer Vasta’s post a few weeks ago. As you’d expect from a post called “The Ultimate Key to Happiness”, it’s a bit introspective and quite thoughtful. But I was most proud to have played a tiny role in helping Sameer’s thoughts along with a Twitter update that I wrote because I felt I had figured out something important, and wanted to commemorate it. In Sameer’s words.

A few weeks ago, Anil Dash posted a tweet (which I replicated on Squandrous) that had one simple nugget of wisdom — a quick quote that actually ended up being the impetus for this post: “Happiness is being good at something.”

I still have the SMS with that message saved on my phone. It acts as a reminder that I don’t necessarily have to do something great in order to be happy — I just need to take what I do all the time and do them well.

If we take, again, happiness as being based in satisfaction and value, Anil’s tweet rings even truer: instead of value being placed in specific achievement, value is being put in a repeated pattern of behavior, whether small or large in impact. The best part of the statement is that everyone is good at something if they just think about it, so everyone, in essence, has something to be happy about.

Truth be told, my little blurb probably isn’t original at all — I’m sure other people have said it first, or better, or both. But I just find it really satisfying that the act of being public with a discovery, of disclosing something personal even at risk of being mocked by a cynical jerk like, well… me can still have that impact sometimes of helping someone make a connection. And in turn, thanks to Sameer for returning the favor.