~ Mother Teresa
What does it really mean to be happy? Does it mean to have a
smile on your face 24/7? Does it mean that all your needs are met? Does it mean
that you are right where you need to be…that you have no need to change
anything? Do people who profess to be happy all the time really contribute to
anything beneficial in the world today? Can you pin down the true meaning and
definition of happiness?
I believe the word is overused. It makes me “happy” to see a
cute baby bunny. What does that mean? I guess it means that I think it’s sweet
and that its fur is soft and I would love to hold it. But is that really happiness? My daughter had
a bunny in the 9th grade for an Ag project. All it did was eat and
poop. I was happy that she had a project to keep her busy, but NOT happy when
it came time to clean out the cage.
Happiness sometimes gives the idea that we are content with the status
quo…that we are alright with the way things are right now. Men who believed that
Earth was the center of the solar system were happy because they were 100% sure
they were right. When Galileo said that the Sun was the center of the solar system,
those same people were no longer happy. It was heresy to say what he said. But
in the end he was right.
Were there any Bible characters that accomplished what they
did in a state of happiness? When Moses parted the Red Sea he had a gazillion
Egyptians chasing him. When David picked up his slingshot and approached the 8-ft
tall Goliath, he was not really a happy camper. I am sure he was confident and
he believed that with God he could win the victory. But what he was feeling was
definitely not happiness.
So why is a mountain climber only happy for a brief moment
when he reaches the summit? His goal is accomplished and then life moves on. Then
the work of coming down from the mountain begins. He has to return all the
rented climbing equipment and go back to his accounting job. And when he gets
home, the mortgage on his house is still due. The winning quarterback in the
Super Bowl is on top of the world for a few hours. But when the parades cease
and the interviews subside, the reality of moving on with life and preparing
for the next year sets in. He must prove himself all over again.
So should we not strive to be happy? That is definitely not
what I am saying. I just think happiness is a moving target. Is the CEO of
Walmart any happier than the greeter? Is the pastor of a mega-church any
happier than the usher that welcomes guests each Sunday? Our goal in life
should never be happiness, as strange as that sounds. There are other things
much deeper and nobler: creating novel inventions, saving lives, pushing for social
change, developing new ways of approaching a modern problem, encouraging others
to keep fighting, feeding the poor, raising confident children, and never
giving up in the face of adversity. If your only goal in life is your own
happiness, you are missing the point of living.
Instead of trying to always be happy, maybe we should
realize that joy is more important. Joy is unshakable and steadfast. Joy does
not flinch when the going gets tough. Joy does not depend on our circumstances.
Joy knows that happiness will pass, trials will come, and sadness is a battle
we all face. We can have joy in knowing we have made a difference in a poor
person’s life. We can have joy in pushing ourselves to be a better athlete, teacher,
father, or worker than we were the year before. We can have joy when a child with dyslexia
crosses the stage at graduation.
Many men and women of the past faced adversity and did some
of their best work during that time. Depression and adversity have led to many great
works of literature, music, and art. Unhappiness and sadness are things we all
face at one time or another in our lives. But God, the unchanging and immovable
rock, will be there in good and bad times, through the rain and the fire. We
will come out on the other side broken, bruised, and wondering what our next
move will be…but we will always have the reassurance that He will never leave
us or forsake us. That feeling is much deeper than happiness. It is the joy and
peace that passes all understanding. We can also look back on our lives and
remember that we fought the good fight and that we were never happy with the
status quo. We were in the (sometimes uncomfortable) business of changing our
world for the better.
So stop chasing happiness. Pursue more noble goals and make
lasting changes in this world and in the lives of those around you. In the end, these are the only things that
last.
