We all want to be happy.
But what is happiness?
Society often confuses happiness and pleasure, but they’re really not synonymous. Pleasure is something you can pro-actively pursue and create; you can literally buy it off a shelf. For example: A steak, a baseball game and a new car are all pleasure-producing items; it’s just a question of money.
And you can feel pleasure – although it may be at a comparatively low level - even if you’re not happy.
So what is Happiness?
To me, happiness is the glorious feeling of contentment that comes from an awareness that your world ‘makes sense’.
Happiness is a feeling of ‘all’s well with the world’…even when that doesn’t appear to be the case. You can be internally ‘happy’ even when you’re hard at work, or even when you’re dealing with a stressful situation.
Why isn’t the work/stress a contradiction to ‘Happiness’? Because it’s work/stress within a meaningful context; it’s an understandable disquiet that you can accept as part of your journey toward a desired goal.
So you don’t actually pursue happiness; you can’t buy anything to give you ‘Happiness’. You can pursue an attitude and life that ‘makes sense’, and the Happiness will settle in.
But what is happiness?
Society often confuses happiness and pleasure, but they’re really not synonymous. Pleasure is something you can pro-actively pursue and create; you can literally buy it off a shelf. For example: A steak, a baseball game and a new car are all pleasure-producing items; it’s just a question of money.
And you can feel pleasure – although it may be at a comparatively low level - even if you’re not happy.
So what is Happiness?
To me, happiness is the glorious feeling of contentment that comes from an awareness that your world ‘makes sense’.
Happiness is a feeling of ‘all’s well with the world’…even when that doesn’t appear to be the case. You can be internally ‘happy’ even when you’re hard at work, or even when you’re dealing with a stressful situation.
Why isn’t the work/stress a contradiction to ‘Happiness’? Because it’s work/stress within a meaningful context; it’s an understandable disquiet that you can accept as part of your journey toward a desired goal.
So you don’t actually pursue happiness; you can’t buy anything to give you ‘Happiness’. You can pursue an attitude and life that ‘makes sense’, and the Happiness will settle in.
Happiness is the side effect of a life that 'makes sense'.
What does ‘making sense’ mean in real terms?
Generally, I define that as living a life with Purpose. But, if you think about it, what good is a purposeful life, if I’m living in a Purpose-less world?
So I need to broaden my definition, to comprise three basic ingredients:
I believe in a Loving Creator/Parent
I believe that I, my life (in all its details), and the world (in all its detail) matter to the Creator/Parent.
I have committed myself to a life of Meaning – as defined by my Creator/Parent.
I don’t believe in the above because they position me for a Happy life; that would be self-deceptive and counter-productive.
I believe in these ideas. Period. As a consequence they provide me with a disposition for a happy life.
Now the big, lurking question: How does this attitude hold up in the face of tragedy, G-d forbid?
Certainly a valid question. A raw, emotional question. A question that Moses himself asked. A question that we will one day ask of the Divine.
But as powerful as it is, it’s a question borne of painful emotion, and I hope that my faith can rise above the pain.
So I will live. I will certainly suffer. And – if I’m properly focused – I’ll be happy.
We all want to be happy.
But what is happiness?
Society often confuses happiness and pleasure, but they’re really not synonymous. Pleasure is something you can pro-actively pursue and create; you can literally buy it off a shelf. For example: A steak, a baseball game and a new car are all pleasure-producing items; it’s just a question of money.
And you can feel pleasure – although it may be at a comparatively low level - even if you’re not happy.
So what is Happiness?
To me, happiness is the glorious feeling of contentment that comes from an awareness that your world ‘makes sense’.
Happiness is a feeling of ‘all’s well with the world’…even when that doesn’t appear to be the case. You can be internally ‘happy’ even when you’re hard at work, or even when you’re dealing with a stressful situation.
Why isn’t the work/stress a contradiction to ‘Happiness’? Because it’s work/stress within a meaningful context; it’s an understandable disquiet that you can accept as part of your journey toward a desired goal.
So you don’t actually pursue happiness; you can’t buy anything to give you ‘Happiness’. You can pursue an attitude and life that ‘makes sense’, and the Happiness will settle in.
What does ‘making sense’ mean in real terms?
Generally, I define that as living a life with Purpose. But, if you think about it, what good is a purposeful life, if I’m living in a Purpose-less world?
So I need to broaden my definition, to comprise three basic ingredients:
I believe in a Loving Creator/Parent
I believe that I, my life (in all its details), and the world (in all its detail) matter to the Creator/Parent.
I have committed myself to a life of Meaning – as defined by my Creator/Parent.
I don’t believe in the above because they position me for a Happy life; that would be self-deceptive and counter-productive.
I believe in these ideas. Period. As a consequence they provide me with a disposition for a happy life.
Now the big, lurking question: How does this attitude hold up in the face of tragedy, G-d forbid?
Certainly a valid question. A raw, emotional question. A question that Moses himself asked. A question that we will one day ask of the Divine.
But as powerful as it is, it’s a question borne of painful emotion, and I hope that my faith can rise above the pain.
So I will live. I will certainly suffer. And – if I’m properly focused – I’ll be happy.
What does ‘making sense’ mean in real terms?
Generally, I define that as living a life with Purpose. But, if you think about it, what good is a purposeful life, if I’m living in a Purpose-less world?
So I need to broaden my definition, to comprise three basic ingredients:
I believe in a Loving Creator/Parent
I believe that I, my life (in all its details), and the world (in all its detail) matter to the Creator/Parent.
I have committed myself to a life of Meaning – as defined by my Creator/Parent.
I don’t believe in the above because they position me for a Happy life; that would be self-deceptive and counter-productive.
I believe in these ideas. Period. As a consequence they provide me with a disposition for a happy life.
Now the big, lurking question: How does this attitude hold up in the face of tragedy, G-d forbid?
Certainly a valid question. A raw, emotional question. A question that Moses himself asked. A question that we will one day ask of the Divine.
But as powerful as it is, it’s a question borne of painful emotion, and I hope that my faith can rise above the pain.
So I will live. I will certainly suffer. And – if I’m properly focused – I’ll be happy.
We all want to be happy.
But what is happiness?
Society often confuses happiness and pleasure, but they’re really not synonymous. Pleasure is something you can pro-actively pursue and create; you can literally buy it off a shelf. For example: A steak, a baseball game and a new car are all pleasure-producing items; it’s just a question of money.
And you can feel pleasure – although it may be at a comparatively low level - even if you’re not happy.
So what is Happiness?
To me, happiness is the glorious feeling of contentment that comes from an awareness that your world ‘makes sense’.
Happiness is a feeling of ‘all’s well with the world’…even when that doesn’t appear to be the case. You can be internally ‘happy’ even when you’re hard at work, or even when you’re dealing with a stressful situation.
Why isn’t the work/stress a contradiction to ‘Happiness’? Because it’s work/stress within a meaningful context; it’s an understandable disquiet that you can accept as part of your journey toward a desired goal.
So you don’t actually pursue happiness; you can’t buy anything to give you ‘Happiness’. You can pursue an attitude and life that ‘makes sense’, and the Happiness will settle in.
What does ‘making sense’ mean in real terms?
Generally, I define that as living a life with Purpose. But, if you think about it, what good is a purposeful life, if I’m living in a Purpose-less world?
So I need to broaden my definition, to comprise three basic ingredients:
I believe in a Loving Creator/Parent
I believe that I, my life (in all its details), and the world (in all its detail) matter to the Creator/Parent.
I have committed myself to a life of Meaning – as defined by my Creator/Parent.
I don’t believe in the above because they position me for a Happy life; that would be self-deceptive and counter-productive.
I believe in these ideas. Period. As a consequence they provide me with a disposition for a happy life.
Now the big, lurking question: How does this attitude hold up in the face of tragedy, G-d forbid?
Certainly a valid question. A raw, emotional question. A question that Moses himself asked. A question that we will one day ask of the Divine.
But as powerful as it is, it’s a question borne of painful emotion, and I hope that my faith can rise above the pain.
So I will live. I will certainly suffer. And – if I’m properly focused – I’ll be happy.