Ah....the pursuit of happiness.
An expression guaranteed under the US constitution.
But, how can we pursue something that which we already are by virtue?
We are happy, we just don't think we are.
Like the cocaine junkie, or lottery winner, we think these things will make us happy, and the first hit, or the first jackpot we are, IN THAT MOMENT, happy.
But that happiness doesn't last long, does it?
We now look to the next hit, and the next jackpot to make us happy AGAIN.
But...when we have that next hit, or win that next jackpot it is not the same and the pursuit of that first feeling of happiness is on.
Unfortunately lifetimes are spent trying to get that FIRST feeling of happiness back.
They never do.
Lottery winners are another source of amusement.
you spend your whole life buying tickets, because you have been told that if you win it will make you happy. You BUY tht line, you believe in that line, and you trust that line.
How many times have we heard from lottery winners a year after that they wish that they HADN"T won the lottery.
We look to religion, the Bible, booze, antidepressants, drugs....anything in the pursuit of happiness the same way.
We buy into it hook, line and sinker.
We also seek out religions because they promise us that they know how to find GOD, and in finding God you find happiness, and in turn that our lives have meaning, purpose.
During the first few years after my experience, I was a Chapters Bookstore junkie.
I went their in search of truth.
The plethora of self-help books on the market today gave me guidance on how to make myself happy.
I was amazed at how many people want to share THEIR idea of the right way to live. Do this, don't do that, can't you read the signs?
Live the 8 rules to happiness, Live a purpose driven life, Bla...bla...bla...
Dr. Phil, can you help our family?
Oprah cares!!!
How to find financial wealth and the path to happiness.....you get my drift.
I lived it, sucked it in, figuring these guys had the magic card, the understanding that i was lacking. In essence I became a self-help book junkie.
Lucky for me a feeling kept nagging me, and I kept searching. Others came to me and said why don't you just quit, why can't you just be happy with your experience, be happy with the knowledge you have now.
I almost fell for it.

Then one night I had a dream.
I was in a prison, and lost my glasses.
I started a frantic search for them, as I was blind without them.
I came upon a pair of glasses, that weren't mine, but in my fear of being blind I tried them on, but they were too fuzzy. For a time I wore them anyway, because they were better than NO glasses.
After a while they became too painful so I removed them.
I looked down and there was another pair, not mine again, so I put them on because in my mind they were better than NO glasses. Again, these were too big, and make my eyes look like coke bottles. I hated the way they made me look, but they would due till I found my own glasses.
I walked around the corner now and noticed hundreds of glasses lying on the ground.
I tried on many pair, but none seemed correct.
Next thing was I was now outside the prison, worried that they were going to find out I had escaped, but the guards didn't seem to pay attention to me, and were not worried that I was outside the gates. I noticed though that I didn't need glasses when I was outside the prison, and I could see alright without them.

I can not shake this vision.

Are we not all trying on anothers glasses to see, hoping that this will make me happy?
Are we relying on to many self-help books, or opinions of another thinking that these people have a better idea on what would make us happy.
Why do we do this?
Do we not have enough confidence in ourselves to discover what does make us happy?
Can we not be happy just being who we are.
Be happy in the moment, and realize that there is no guarantee that the next moment will arrive.
Buy the house, if that what will make you happy, but soon you realize that the house is fine, but it is the bills that make you unhappy.
Around every corner there is more un-happiness,
If you stop looking at the corner, or looking back to before you bought the house and had no bills, you are not living in the moment and creating your own unhappiness.

HAPPINESS IS IN THE MOMENT!
You don't need to pursue it, just live it.
This to me is a spiritual journey.


Comments....

I think you put it best:Take life day by day. Live each day like it was the last day.

Man oh man do you red fast.
I just posted this.

No I had just stopped in when it popped up.

The moment is all we really have. You can't live in the past or the future. All we got is NOW. Great Post Turtle. Thanks for reminding me.


"If your happy and you know it clap your hands!"

(clap, clap)

Thanks.

I guess I'm going to take a slightly different tune and say that happiness isn't everything. There will always be times when we are sad, angry, hurt, tired, and more.

For myself, being content is far better than being happy. For if I learn the secret to contentment, then no matter what my situation in life, I will be, well........ content.

On the other hand, if I say happiness is making money, or having fun, or having family or not being sick or being any number of things, then when that happiness is absent in my life, then that's when life falls apart.

I hope I'm making sense.

Regards, PA

Edit: content is not the same as complacent. complacency leads to laziness. If you know what I mean.

I believe happiness is what you make it. For some it may be a house, for others a new car, family, etc. I think true happiness is when you are content with what you have. For me it is my religion. I'm a christian and rely heavily on God to help me be content and give me a peace about what I cannot change. I stress out easily over silly stuff so this helps keep me grounded.

So, when you die your funeral possession will include a moving van to take all your earthly goodies to heaven with you?
Perhaps you are not really happy because you are relying on someone else TOO make you happy, even if it is "God"

Turtle,

For me personally, I don't see a need to try to take all my earthly stuff with me when I die. What would I do with it?

I have pondered your question and I do believe in my heart that I am truly happy. And maybe I do lean on my God quite a bit but I see no problem in that. I'm not saying that religion is for everyone, but it's what works for me.

only "the moment" is certian. the past and the future mere probabilites.

indeed, experience the moment. happiness and contentment are what you choose for them to be. As social animals though humans desire to know their "rank" and are driven (more or less) to get to the top of the heap. Balancing out social rank with happiness/contentment can provide for a balance. The animal inside will always say "never settle".

It is the age old question: "what makes you happy?". Observe how it is answered in relation to others, norms, ideals, etc. If society is stripped away and one is forced to define happiness solely within the context of the self then you come closer to answering that question. Far too many people are afaid to even be alone in their thoughts, yet alone in the world. For most happiness will always be tied to some extent to the comparison of social rank. Dr Phil and others know this too well and enjoy a prosperous living from it. Sometimes even our ethics are so biased we can't see the unethical nature of our ethics.

I like to think that the present does not exist. We have the past and the future and when they collide there is a spark and it is within that spark that we exist and it is that spark that we call the present. But what I write now has already faded into the past and what I plan to write rests in the future. The present is so minute that it doesn't exist.

It is the same with our lives. Our planet has 6 billion years and that means that our 75-year-average lives represent 0.000.000.000.000.125 part of one percent of that time. Less than the snap of a finger. What can happen that is truly important in that span of time? With so little time to live, why should I waste a second of it with things like anger, sadness or hate? It is the recognition of our living within that snap of a finger that should make us realize that love, happiness and time are all we have.

happiness is all relative.
can you feel happiness without sadness? no. you need sadness in order to appreciate the happiness. and different things make different people happy.

in my opinion, religion is all man-made. they want to believe that there is some sort of method to the madness of this world. they want to think that everything happens for a reason and that someone has control over everything, when in reality, no one does. they want to have someone to blame when things go wrong and someone to praise when things go right. simple as.

Tell that to the bill collector.

Being happy and being fulfiled are two interesting aspects that you humans seem to need. But what is the point of any of it. Your born to die. In a hundred years from now, who will know who you were.

Enjoy life, but be sre to leave a mark.

Peace

sc

And you did Sean.
In case anyone doesn't know Sean passes away the other day.
He will be missed.

Blessings