Some things can be hunted down, but happiness is not one of them.
Money cannot buy happiness. If it could, so many wealthy people would not indulge in self-destructive behaviors or commit suicide.
Regarding marriage, we were conditioned as children to expect “to live happily ever after.” But think of the couples you know. How many of them appear to be happy?
Regarding happiness in families, it should be no mystery by now that all families are dysfunctional and it is only a question of the degree of dysfunction. All family members are capable of pushing each others' buttons, as the expression goes. If we want peace, we must learn how to value peace.
The best way to avoid or stop an argument is to refuse to say anything. This is difficult, because we human beings enjoy the pleasure of fighting over and claiming our supposed rights.
A good case could be made that most people actively pursue misery, thinking that they will find happiness like a pot of gold waiting for them as a reward at the end of a life of self-sacrifice and suffering. Happiness is the opposite of that.
I can consciously intend to be a happy person today. I can choose happiness without making it into a hunt or a chase. I can wish for happiness and then let that wish go. I can be happy today without paying for it first through suffering. I don't have to pay for happiness. Happy is something I DECIDE to be.
Copyright © 2011 Barbara A. English
All rights reserved.
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