the pursuit of happyness
No, this is not a review of the movie starring Will Smith.
This is, in fact, a bowl of word soup. It's a thought that passed through my head at some point and kept on going until, at another point, i decided to turn it around and make it come back so i could examine it up close and then write about it. It's about my own pursuit of happiness, and why it means more to me than all other pursuits i endeavor to take on.
I love being happy. You might be thinking, "Well, duh. Doesn't everyone?" And i honestly believe the answer to that is no, but we'll get to that later. I want to talk about happiness in its purest form, where the heart of my obsession lies. Contentment in all things. Joy in all things. The feeling that no matter where i am, or what i'm doing, or who i'm with, nothing and no one can shake me. Except i'm not satisfied with just feeling that way, i want it to be true, always...in all things.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians from his time of imprisonment telling them to rejoice in the Lord always. I really look forward to meeting him one day so i can fully understand how, after being sentenced on false charges and spending approximately seven years in jail, he was able to have such an incredible attitude. And what does it mean, exactly, to rejoice in the Lord always? Does it mean we should thank God when bad things happen? Does it mean to praise Him for our pain, our trials? I don't think so. I believe that when Paul encouraged his people to rejoice in the Lord, he meant several things:
1. Count your blessings. We're all human; we all tend to forget how blessed we are in any given moment. Instead of allowing ourselves to become unsatisfied because we don't have loads of money and mansions on the coast (or in the case of the Philippians, perhaps more sheep or a grander lot of land), we need to refocus our perspective on things. Think about your morning...maybe you woke up, took a shower and went to work. There's an endless amount of blessings right there: you probably woke up in a bed, under some kind of roof, you were healthy, you had clean water, you had access to transportation, and even a job. In fact, in all seriousness, clean water alone makes you one of the wealthiest people on the planet. But even beyond the basic necessities of life, be aware of the things you complain about and ask yourself how awful they really are. Personally, the more aware i become of being thankful for my blessings, the more joy i find in the little things.
2. Be content. In the same letter that Paul wrote urging his brothers to rejoice in the Lord, he also wrote, "...I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." I've had many discussions with various types of people on the topic of contentment, and the consensus seems to be that finding contentment is easier said than done. As blanket statements go, i suppose that's fair enough. But honestly - and don't think i don't include myself in this - i don't think many of us really try too hard. I have discovered, in the moments when i'm genuinely making an effort to understand the possibility of true contentment, that the less i have, the more content i become. The less space taken up by material things, the more room i have for everything else: investing in my relationships, serving others, and creating lasting memories. I've finally realized that life truly is what i make of it, and as long as i remember that it's those three things that make me most happy, i can be content in any given situation.
3. Get your head in the game, or go home. You probably didn't see this bullet point coming, but i honestly feel it's the most important one. In writing to his people from prison, i think Paul was saying, "Look. Yes, i'm in captivity; yes, it sucks; yes, i'll probably die here. Maybe you're in a crappy place in life yourself; at some point, we all will be. The struggles and curveballs of life are inevitable. But in the end what matters is how you respond to these things. As Christians, there's nothing that sanctifies us aside from our relationship with God. We don't have all the answers, we're far from perfect, and we're going to face difficulties. The world isn't expecting us to defy human nature, but for God's sake (literally), rejoice! You've been born again, you're a new creation. You're still only human, but your Lord is the king of kings. You've been given hope, you've been given love, you've been given life and then some. For the love of God, be happy! Don't call yourself reborn and appear to be dead. Don't tell the world it needs God and then make it wonder why. Face your problems, get emotional, cry a little if you have to...but walk it off. Count your blessings. Be content. And get your head in the game, or go home."
Life is too short for unhappiness. As far as i'm concerned, there's simply no room for it. I don't care what guise it's wearing...fear, stress, depression, bitterness...it's all a form of unhappiness, and it serves no purpose but to rob us of a life fulfilled.
So how, then, do we acquire happiness? It's actually very simple. Happiness is free, but the thing is, you have to want it. That might sound silly, but if there's one thing i've learned with experience, it's that we are our own worst enemies. I'm the only one who can keep me from being happy. If life is tossing me a bunch of lemons and i choose to sit in its sour juice and feel rotten, the depression that can and will follow is nobody's fault but my own. And sometimes it feels really good to just sit in your current mess and feel bad for yourself, but eventually you have to decide that you're not going to let unhappiness be your master.
You must choose life over death.
If comparing unhappiness to death sounds a little dramatic to you, think about the last time you were completely, genuinely unhappy. You probably didn't want to get out of bed, or hang out with friends, or focus on anything but your pain. You saw nothing good in anything, you couldn't see past the moment you were currently in, and you sought out temporary solutions to change how you felt. What kind of life is that? The way i see it, you might as well have been dead.
I don't want to walk around like a zombie in this life. No matter what sort of curveballs are thrown at me, i want to be strong and content and grateful. I want to experience happiness in its purest form. And through it all, i want to be fully alive.
This is, in fact, a bowl of word soup. It's a thought that passed through my head at some point and kept on going until, at another point, i decided to turn it around and make it come back so i could examine it up close and then write about it. It's about my own pursuit of happiness, and why it means more to me than all other pursuits i endeavor to take on.
I love being happy. You might be thinking, "Well, duh. Doesn't everyone?" And i honestly believe the answer to that is no, but we'll get to that later. I want to talk about happiness in its purest form, where the heart of my obsession lies. Contentment in all things. Joy in all things. The feeling that no matter where i am, or what i'm doing, or who i'm with, nothing and no one can shake me. Except i'm not satisfied with just feeling that way, i want it to be true, always...in all things.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians from his time of imprisonment telling them to rejoice in the Lord always. I really look forward to meeting him one day so i can fully understand how, after being sentenced on false charges and spending approximately seven years in jail, he was able to have such an incredible attitude. And what does it mean, exactly, to rejoice in the Lord always? Does it mean we should thank God when bad things happen? Does it mean to praise Him for our pain, our trials? I don't think so. I believe that when Paul encouraged his people to rejoice in the Lord, he meant several things:
1. Count your blessings. We're all human; we all tend to forget how blessed we are in any given moment. Instead of allowing ourselves to become unsatisfied because we don't have loads of money and mansions on the coast (or in the case of the Philippians, perhaps more sheep or a grander lot of land), we need to refocus our perspective on things. Think about your morning...maybe you woke up, took a shower and went to work. There's an endless amount of blessings right there: you probably woke up in a bed, under some kind of roof, you were healthy, you had clean water, you had access to transportation, and even a job. In fact, in all seriousness, clean water alone makes you one of the wealthiest people on the planet. But even beyond the basic necessities of life, be aware of the things you complain about and ask yourself how awful they really are. Personally, the more aware i become of being thankful for my blessings, the more joy i find in the little things.
2. Be content. In the same letter that Paul wrote urging his brothers to rejoice in the Lord, he also wrote, "...I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." I've had many discussions with various types of people on the topic of contentment, and the consensus seems to be that finding contentment is easier said than done. As blanket statements go, i suppose that's fair enough. But honestly - and don't think i don't include myself in this - i don't think many of us really try too hard. I have discovered, in the moments when i'm genuinely making an effort to understand the possibility of true contentment, that the less i have, the more content i become. The less space taken up by material things, the more room i have for everything else: investing in my relationships, serving others, and creating lasting memories. I've finally realized that life truly is what i make of it, and as long as i remember that it's those three things that make me most happy, i can be content in any given situation.
3. Get your head in the game, or go home. You probably didn't see this bullet point coming, but i honestly feel it's the most important one. In writing to his people from prison, i think Paul was saying, "Look. Yes, i'm in captivity; yes, it sucks; yes, i'll probably die here. Maybe you're in a crappy place in life yourself; at some point, we all will be. The struggles and curveballs of life are inevitable. But in the end what matters is how you respond to these things. As Christians, there's nothing that sanctifies us aside from our relationship with God. We don't have all the answers, we're far from perfect, and we're going to face difficulties. The world isn't expecting us to defy human nature, but for God's sake (literally), rejoice! You've been born again, you're a new creation. You're still only human, but your Lord is the king of kings. You've been given hope, you've been given love, you've been given life and then some. For the love of God, be happy! Don't call yourself reborn and appear to be dead. Don't tell the world it needs God and then make it wonder why. Face your problems, get emotional, cry a little if you have to...but walk it off. Count your blessings. Be content. And get your head in the game, or go home."
Life is too short for unhappiness. As far as i'm concerned, there's simply no room for it. I don't care what guise it's wearing...fear, stress, depression, bitterness...it's all a form of unhappiness, and it serves no purpose but to rob us of a life fulfilled.
So how, then, do we acquire happiness? It's actually very simple. Happiness is free, but the thing is, you have to want it. That might sound silly, but if there's one thing i've learned with experience, it's that we are our own worst enemies. I'm the only one who can keep me from being happy. If life is tossing me a bunch of lemons and i choose to sit in its sour juice and feel rotten, the depression that can and will follow is nobody's fault but my own. And sometimes it feels really good to just sit in your current mess and feel bad for yourself, but eventually you have to decide that you're not going to let unhappiness be your master.
You must choose life over death.
If comparing unhappiness to death sounds a little dramatic to you, think about the last time you were completely, genuinely unhappy. You probably didn't want to get out of bed, or hang out with friends, or focus on anything but your pain. You saw nothing good in anything, you couldn't see past the moment you were currently in, and you sought out temporary solutions to change how you felt. What kind of life is that? The way i see it, you might as well have been dead.
I don't want to walk around like a zombie in this life. No matter what sort of curveballs are thrown at me, i want to be strong and content and grateful. I want to experience happiness in its purest form. And through it all, i want to be fully alive.
posted by audrey at
8:26 AM
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