Opinion: Tom Daley and the pursuit of happiness

Open and real

Seeing Tom Daley on video yesterday revealing that he was in a relationship man, and he could not be happier revealed a sense of empowerment in being able to give voice to a personal story. [BBC News] [BBC News]

For all the speculation that might have accompanied trying to determine what preferences for partnership he had, nothing could be better than having control of your personal narrative.

Many a time, people have in their quest for privacy or for the fears of rejection, stigma, shame or even blackmail, never lived to the full, expending all their energy in maintaining a false normalcy about their lives too secret to find expression in most of the occupations that they find themselves.

The courage of conviction

We compartmentalise our lives into some sort of schizophrenic existence, presenting different personas to different groups of people without the freedom to be who we really are in entirety and overcome with fear or concern for what others might think about us.

What impressed me the most about Tom Daley was this, he was able to put the pursuit of happiness above every fear of stigma in the search for and the fulfilment of love, that is commendable and it is a great life achievement.

The pursuit of happiness is in my humble opinion, a fundamental human right, it is one that we need to realise we can pursue for the simple fact that we have only one life to live and everything that brings fulfilment rather than regret is worth every smile that could ever cross our lips.

Love who you love and be happy

This in the company of those we decide to give our hearts to, to enjoy life and do things together to the completeness and full realisation of self, self-esteem and self-actualisation.

It should not matter what our sexuality is, everyone has the capacity to love and be loved in heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, asexual or platonic relationships. That we feel restrained for all the societal, the cultural, the religious or the familial pressures is unfortunate.

We are left with the comforting and exhilarating words of Tom Daley, "Of course I still fancy girls but right now I'm dating a guy and I couldn't be happier."

The key phrase in that statement is, “I couldn't be happier.” That alone, we must wish for ourselves.