"The happiest man on earth would look into the mirror and see only himself, exactly as he is," said Dumbledore as he explained to Harry how the Mirror of Erised worked.
But what would a modern man see? What would I see?

I don't believe that lives are meant to be happy. What is happiness but a fleeting rush of hormones and neurotransmitters? I like to think that happiness is nothing but merely the absence of sadness. Are we every really happy? Are we ever really sad?

I don't know what I'd see if I gazed at the mirror. A person in peace maybe? But I'd forget what happiness is, if I were at peace for too long. Sadness is the universe in equilibrium. Sadness is what makes life worth living.

For if it weren't for sadness, happiness wouldn't mean a thing. A man is born, not to be happy but to be sad. He was born to be sad, just to know what happy was. He'd be told all his life to run and try make happiness a constant, but if he did that, he'd be sad.

Maybe happiness lies in the fact that we can't ever be, truly happy. Instead of fighting sadness, maybe giving in to it is happiness. Maybe as I gaze into the mirror, I see nothing. Maybe monks are happy because they literally have nothing. No attachments. No obligations. NOTHING

But then, do I want to be happy? Nope. Maybe I just want a momentary break from sadness. Maybe I just want dopamine to course through my blood. And I'll work, till I can't, just for that.