What IS Happiness?

Okay, there are things that can make us happy.  In fact, there are things that happen that make us sad.  The US Constitution guarantees happiness to every person.  Okay, it doesn’t actually guarantee it, but says each person can seek it.  But what is happiness?  I would contend that I wish the founding fathers of the US had instead used contentment.  Happiness can be fleeting.  Family can make us happy; more often than not.  Things can bring us happiness until those things begin to age and we need to replace the things that once made us happy with new things that can bring that happiness back to us.  This is the trap of Capitalism.  We are constantly in search of that which makes us happy.  The idea behind happiness is that we constantly want it only to find out that happiness is fleeting at best. 

I have quoted St. Francis more than once from his Serenity Prayer, but I think St. Francis knew exactly what he was saying.  He defined for us the meaning of contentment.  We accept what we cannot change.  That is contentment.  But wisdom comes when we know what we cannot or CAN change.  And sometimes people try to make changes only to discover that there are some things that just simply cannot be changed.  We can’t change history.  We CAN change how we interpret history, particularly our own.  We can’t change death.  We can’t change our decisions, unless there is time to do so.  More often than not, our health, and even our status is life is something that just simply can’t be changed.  We can try.  We can eat healthier.  And some people just can’t be content where they are in life.  So, they constantly seek to change that.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.  And when it doesn’t, that isn’t going to necessarily make them happy.  If we seek something in life and try like hell to acquire it, only to find out, we lack whatever we need to get there, we won’t end up being very happy about it. 

I liken contentment to satisfaction in life.  Satisfaction in life means we have accepted whatever outcome there is.  Contentment is just like that.  Contentment necessary isn’t happiness, but that contentment has a lot to do with acceptance of life and living.  Death is sad to say the least.  But life and living go on.  If death makes us sad for a length of time that is beyond what many would consider to be normal, it’s time to get some help.  We accept what we cannot change.  We can’t change the fact that a loved one was taken from us.  But we can go on living our lives because life goes on.  Becoming a recluse has limited my number of friends.  If the lack of friends makes me unhappy, then I need to go out and make friends.  Some might suggest that if I don’t do that, will die alone, and maybe destitute, they might say, or I will become a very lonely person.  Well, the fact is, I don’t think about it, because IF I were to die, I don’t really care about who might or might not come to my funeral.  Death is a process for each person to take alone.  But the fact is, I don’t worry about death.  I don’t worry about dying.  I have only one task to perform and I do that even by breathing.  Further, I don’t want to explain my Angels to every person who MIGHT become a friend.  It’s really too exhausting for me.  I have been there and done that.  I just simply don’t want to explain my Angels.  And maybe it’s because of my Angels that I am more content than most.  Maybe.  And maybe I have a LOT to be happy about.  But I don’t think of it as happiness.  There are some things I wish I COULD change, but I can’t.  I can’t change the Message even though my thinking is that it’s not the way most people think.  And if I say where my thinking comes from, then I feel I have to explain my Angels.  I don’t want to do that either.  I am content in my life as it is.  If I weren’t happy being a recluse, I would change it.  But the fact is, I couldn’t be any more content than I am now.  And THAT is my point.  Peace.  I am Brother Ralphie writing for my Angels from The Angels of Life Institute.  Brother Ralphie works from his study for the promotion of Peaceful living and inner Peace with God. He calls this the “Sanctity of Human Life Movement.”