Chasing Happiness

Dying to be Happy
Her life ended in a small yellow house in Portland, Oregon. She was surrounded by family. What made her passing on 11/01/2014 different was that this was the day she choose to die. Diagnosed with terminal brain cancer earlier this year, 29-year-old Brittany Maynard believed that dying with dignity was better than prolonging her suffering. She was very open about wanting to spare her husband and family the pain of watching cancer kill her slowly. So she willingly took the legally prescribed mediation that would end her life. Whether you agree with her choice or not, it seems clear that she made this choice based on a desire for happiness. Extreme to be sure, but that was her motive. My heart breaks for family.

“All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.”
– Blaise Pascal (French Mathematician, Physicist, Philosopher)

What’s My Motivation?
No one wakes up in the morning and says, ‘My goal today is to be as miserable as possible.’ That’s just crazy! We make choices every day based on doing the things we believe will make us happy. This also applies to the people we hang with. We choose to spend time with people who make us feel better about our life. Who wants to hang out with ‘Debbie Downer’? Without getting too deep or philosophical I think it’s fair to say God made us this way. We humans are motivated by and drawn to the people, places and things that give us maximum happiness, satisfaction or fulfillment.

“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.”
– Declaration of Independence

Can’t Buy Me Love
Most of us know instinctively that accumulating more money or more stuff won’t make us happy. We’ve learned by observation that wealthy celebrities, athletes and business moguls are no happier than we are. Sometimes they’re a lot less happy. But even though we know this, many would be willing to participate in an experiment where we’re given $10 million and told to go seek happiness. Take note that Solomon (the Biblical king) had more wealth, wives and wisdom than anyone who ever lived, yet he wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. This was not exactly the feel-good book of the year and included his confession that everything he pursued was meaningless.

“Say you don’t need no diamond ring
And I’ll be satisfied
Tell me that you want the kind of things
That money just can’t buy
I don’t care too much for money
Money can’t buy me love”
– Lennon/McCartney

Taking Care of Business
What do you do? That’s one of the first questions we ask when we meet someone new. Since we spend so much time at work, our job has a big impact on our life. Studies have shown that job satisfaction is strongly related to life satisfaction–the degree to which a person feels happy with their life. We work to earn a paycheck and to provide for our family, but we also want to enjoy our job. Recent studies have focused on another dimension of work–finding meaning in our jobs. Meaningful work is good for workers and their employers. The problem is that according to a recent Gallup poll only 30% of Americans say they are engaged or passionate about their work. If you’re one of the lucky ones, awesome. But we there’s no guarantee our job will make us happy.

Happy Together
Every week I see another ‘Happy’ wedding reception music video posted on Facebook. When I saw Gru fall in love with Lucy in ‘Despicable Me 2’ and then dance his way to work the next morning, I had no idea this was the first wave of a tsunami. The song called simply, ‘Happy’ has become a cultural phenomenon. It’s everywhere. And why not? The tune is catchy and it oozes with a spirit of happiness. I think the song has become closely associated with romantic love because we all want to believe that finding the right person will make us happy. And that’s true to a point, but consider this. Is it fair to someone, or even realistic, to expect them to make us happy? Here’s the now familiar chorus:

“Because I’m happy–
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I’m happy–
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I’m happy–
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I’m happy–
Clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do”
– Pharrell Williams

Happy Hour Extended
When someone invites you to ‘Happy Hour’ you know what to expect. The restaurant or bar designates an hour or two when you pay a reduced price for drinks. The general idea is that increased alcohol consumption will help us reach a state of happiness at an accelerated pace. This strategy works only in the short-term. Wouldn’t it be amazing if happy hour continued indefinitely? Well that’s what God has in mind. In one of his psalms, David (the Biblical singer/songwriter), writes about what it’s like to hang out with God: “You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.”  Jesus talked a lot about happiness. He said: “My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.”  When you look at the Jesus story in the Gospels it’s very clear that happiness is a high priority for God. Jesus was always the life of the party, but the religious folks around him brought everyone done. Jesus’ mission to earth was to restore our broken relationship with God. You could say that happiness is pursuing us. The master plan is for us children to be with our Daddy in heavenly bliss for all time. That will be our ultimate happy place. And, yes, there will be happy meals.