When I was a senior in high school, my Latin teacher used to begin every class with a mini-quiz that ended in a daily poll for the class. Topics ranged from favorite seasons to comparisons of cereal flavors and everything in between. After she collected the quizzes she would read out the votes which we’d written on the back, and we’d collect the results. One day, she asked about clothes.

This poll came in three parts. First was everyone’s favorite color to wear, then what they thought the happiest color was. The final question was something along the lines of, “If you could pick only one color to wear for all your clothes for the rest of your life, what would it be?” The results were what one might expect. For favorite color to wear, my classmates picked blacks, greys, blues, purples, and greens. I picked maroon because I’m a sucker for the grey-maroon combos in sweaters. All of them were generally dark and muted, versatile colors you’d expect to find in anyone’s closet. It won’t come as a surprise that most people picked yellow for happiest color. There were a few oranges and one pink, but it was nearly a unanimous vote. For the final question, one color forevermore, most people had gone with a grey, black, or blue. Standard colors, classics. Hues you would expect never to tire of. Even though each answer was highly predictable, my teacher pointed out something strange in the results.

She noted to us that while almost everyone had picked yellow as the happiest color, it wasn’t anyone’s favorite color to wear. While there’s probably not some deep philosophical reason behind this, it made me wonder. There are a lot of situations where we sacrifice happiness in favor of popularity, success, wealth, or a stable future. Each one of these things could be a contributor to our happiness, but once we’ve achieved them, we never step back to enjoy it. Wearing grey to an interview may make you look serious and responsible, but never taking a break to bring light-hearted yellow into your wardrobe wouldn’t result in a very pleasant life. Most people say that what they want in life is to be happy, and, theoretically, everyone is seeking happiness. But instead, we chase after material objects or social statuses that we think will bring happiness along with them. They never do.

We forget to take life slowly and look for happiness in the places where it is actually found. Happiness won’t be in a bank account or a job, in powerful friends or phenomenal grades. It’s in the quiet moments with friends or family, in cooking hotdogs over a fire next to a river. Happiness is in a soft bed after a long day, and connecting to a God who loves you without condition. It is looking within yourself, and deciding to be content with whatever you see, and letting God change the things that need it. Happiness is found in loving and being loved, and wearing a little yellow just for the heck of it.