In
Search of Happiness
“If
you desire an hour's happiness, take a nap. If you desire a day's
happiness, go fishing. If you desire a month's happiness, get
married. If you desire a year's happiness, inherit a fortune. If you
desire a lifetime's happiness, help someone else.”
Chinese
Proverb
Think
about a time in your life when you were very happy. Where were you,
what were you doing, how old were you, what made that a particularly
happy time? When you think back across the years of your life, did
the happy times fill most of those years, or do they look like small
islands in a long river of not-so-happiness? In fact, what does it
mean to be happy? Do certain people take you there quickly; just
being in their presence is something you look forward to. Are there
certain jobs, certain places that inspire you?
I
like this proverb because it names some things that we think will
make us happy—rest, play, love, money. And those things do spark
happy feelings in most of us for a while, don't they. Wouldn't it be
great to just not have to think about money at all; to simply have
peace of mind about that one thing. And who would not be happy to
find the love of one's life and marry them? But most of us experience
happiness only for a while—we seem to have attention deficit when
it comes to remembering how many blessings we have all the time that
ought to make us happy.
At
my church, we've been putting together hygiene kits for people who
live in refugee camps in the countries around Syria. Everybody
brought something—soap, wash cloths, toothpaste, and so on. We'll
be able to make perhaps 75 or 100 kits—pretty good until you
realize that there are several hundred thousand refugees!
Fortunately, other churches in our denomination are joining in this
project. These Syrian people, whole towns and villages, are living in
tent cities in the middle of winter without enough latrines and
running water. Can you even imagine being there? This project has
gotten a great response because all of us have listened to the news,
watched and read about the carnage, and felt so bad for the innocent
people caught up in this terrible civil war. This is one thing we can
do. We can send soap and toothpaste—we can feel as though we make a
small difference in a few lives. That feels good. That makes us
happy.
We
have much to be happy about. I have found that if I will stay in the
present moment, not worry about the future, not ruminate on the past,
I feel content most of the time. And contentment and happiness are
synonymous in my dictionary. How about you? What is your definition
of happiness?
In
the spirit,
Jane
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