September 13, 2003
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Pursuing Happiness
Happiness is one of those words that has changed significantly in meaning over the centuries. But it appears in so many of our proverbs and quotes that I think we often get a miseducation on the pursuit of happiness as a worthwhile endeavor.
Today we understand happiness to be a state of emotion, a feeling of well-being and joy. Originally, the word happy referrred to the circumstantial conditions that we use the word lucky to describe. Happy circumstances were the result of hard work plus the randomness of chance. Which is why the framers of the Declaration of Independence used the phrase Pursuit of Happiness to define our basic inalienable right.
No one has an inherent right to a feeling. Emotions by their ephemeral nature cannot be guaranteed, they must be chosen. Yesterday I spoke with a friend who found himself suddenly and unexpectedly unemployed. He was cheerful and optimistic about opportunities this circumstance created. A happy circumstance? Not by any stretch of the imagination. Hardships have already resulted from this disruption in his life and more loom. But is he under the circumstance? No, he has chosen not to have his emotional sense of well-being be dictated by this event over which he has no control.
On the other end of the scale, I have a friend in a stable marriage with lovely children and a husband who works long and hard to provide them with a standard of living that is well above average. A happy circumstance? Yes. But her emotional compass points south. Talking with her, I would never imagine that her circumstances were so favorable if I didn't have the larger picture. She is riddled with longing for something that she doesn't have.
Over the past few weeks I've seen several blogs that mention the Apostle Paul and every one of them has taken exception to his theology and his influence on the shaping of Christianity. I suspect that theologians will continue to argue about Paul and his role for years. I expect that they will never be able to dismiss him because for all the controversies that surround him, he wrote some of the most practical application of spiritual principles in the history of religious thought. One of his gems comes from a letter in which he said, "I have learned to be content regardless of my circumstances." Wow, whether you agree with everything he said or not, it seems to me that a man who could make that statement is worthy of a listening ear.
There is nothing wrong with doing our best to arrange our circumstances for our greatest benefit. But wouldn't it be nice if we could learn to feel happy in spite of them?
My youngest is in a happy circumstance this morning. We went shopping yesterday and found ketchup in a new sized bottle. I know you can't see the label clearly so let me explain, this is a 4 POUND bottle of ketchup.
Comments (19)
:bigbounce: I love it! 4 pounds. he he
Ahhhh...my future son looks like he'll grow up to be a linebacker for the New York Giants :dork:
But seriously...happiness is turning on my Compaq lapshit & seeing YOUR face take up the whole screen...and whilst our love in all likelihood will be forever Platonic, there is still the hope that twenty years down the road i'll be awaking to those gorgeeous blue eyes of YOUR's daily :lip_kiss:, and maybe aftter you three-million-and-fifty-third orgasm with ME, perhaps you'll say---Wow...I should have done this sooner :amen:
I love ketchup!
another notch in the pole gets etched.
So true. You know, I have chosen happiness. Too bad some days I am happier than others :wink: Aww, too cute, that little one with his ketchup.
I truly believe that you are the only person alive that can weave Luck, the Apostle Paul and a four pound bottle of ketchup into one flowing web log. I am not sure that is LEGAL….
Sail on… sail on!!!
He must really like ketchup! lol Cute picture. :smile:
I always liked Charles Schulz's definitions of happiness. Simple everyday things that can make people happy if they think to look at them and if they think to look at them in that light.
4lbs of ketchup? whoa.
And what a cutie that boy is. Just look at his little hands. See...it's stuff like that that makes me happy sometimes...just looking at little hands.
Happiness is a choice. Sometimes it's a DIFFICULT choice, but it's a choice nonetheless. Great post! Wow, a 4 lb. bottle of ketchup!
ketchup is a food group in my house...looks like a wal-mart buy? i'll have to check it out. :peace:
I think it was John Stuart Mill who said. "Ask yourself if you are happy and you cease to be so." I try to be more like the kids I teach and just hang on to the simple pleasures in life.
Ê:2beers:Mike
Your son is so beautiful.
I love Paul...he's one of my favorites. A part of me would love to be like him, but I really don't think I have the stamina to go through all he did. However, he did somehow learn to be content within his life, which is something I am pursuing. I'll paraphrase, but didn't he say something like, "I am persecuted, but not destroyed. Struck down, but not defeated." That's a great outlook on life...one which I also want to have. -Kate
Happiness is something we all strive for, but often don't realize that we already have it if we look within. It's so easy to say "when I have this, I'll be happy" or "when I've done this, I'll be happy", but really, all we need to be happy, we already have. Thank you for the wonderful blog. :smile:
And that's a lot of ketchup!
It's almost midnight. And I haven't thought about 'happiness' all day. Can a pursuit be thoughtless?
:clap: did he drink it all? hehe :clown:
I have had one of those truly shit-filled days. The kind of day where nothing went as I expected, I reacted to a situatin in a way that surprised (and disappointed) me, and I didn't accomplish the things I needed to get done.
However - I have just consumed a bowl of vanilla ice cream almost as big as my head with spoonfuls of crunchy peanut butter mixed in and hot fudge syrup poured on top.
I am happy. :moon:
God Bless - Dale
May contentment & happiness always be yours!
Your little guy is such a cutie!
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