Scattered Thoughts on the Pursuit of Happiness [jenna]

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. –from the Declaration of Independence

There it is ... ink on paper. All of us have the right to pursue happiness. Amusingly enough, the right is only to pursue happiness, not necessarily to have it. The Founding Fathers apparently knew full well that human nature demands it all too readily.

Did they understand what a fleet and transparent quarry we have? I am sure they did, though I also wonder if they may have actually been happier than most of this particularly dissatisfied age. If we strip off the "faction" (fictional descriptions around factual events) and psychoanalysis about men like Washington and Adams and Jefferson and Benjamin Rush and Stephen Hopkins, we generally find a respectability, and often a piety, that denotes at least a greater peace with themselves and with life than the generations alive today (this despite the fact that they fought a difficult and bloody war against a much larger power.)

For the sake of defining terms, though: what is happiness? Not joy specifically, which is a virtue; not pleasure, which is an experience; not contentment exactly, which carries undertones of resignation. Perhaps it could be considered a sort of combination of the three; or, more likely, an attitude all its own that takes all three forms at various times.

But that isn't how we define it, not culturally. Why has happiness become this gigantic appetite for pleasure, this desperate need for a maintained high, when it is much more naturally found—for most people—in quiet contentment? How has it become that we pursue happiness at the expense of others’ rights; of others’ happiness, if not their lives and liberties? Not merely in the big ways like divorce or tyranny, but in everyday ways like driving recklessly and aggressively or in treating others—especially our parents, our employers and the elderly—with disrespect.

The answer to that, of course, is that we're human. We screw up. But neither the fact of our screwing up nor the outcome of our mistakes has captured happiness for us; that, at least, is so brutally obvious that it hardly merits stating here. Still, we have the right to refocus and continue our pursuit; continue we do, and continue we must, for a healthy (meaning unselfish) pursuit of happiness is vital and even righteous.

It is worth looking to the old and godly for help in that search. They often understand happiness in a very courageous sense. I have seen this personally, recently, watching a very dear friend about my grandmother’s age lose her son and almost immediately thereafter, face the loss of her husband as well. When I commented on her attitude after hearing her list several ways she considered herself blessed, she simply said “We are God’s witness. But I don’t know what people do who don’t pray.”

The pursuit of happiness will undoubtedly look different for each person, according to personality and talent and interest and numerous other factors. For me, for now, it means:

--spending more time with my family than in being involved in various programs and activities
--attending church faithfully, and making regular use of my Bible and prayer book
--devoting myself to the man I love, now that I am lucky/blessed enough to have him in my life (before I knew him, it meant choosing to hope that I would have this chance)
--leaving my job at work instead of bringing it home with me
--listening to good and cheerful music often, but opting more often for silence
--taking every chance I get to look up at blue sky through green leaves
--caring about the world and making an effort to help others, but without trying to solve every problem on earth

My question to my readers, for the comment-box or your own mind, is this: What does it mean for you? I would love to hear from those who are willing to share.