The Non-Pursuit of Happiness...

The Non-Pursuit of Happiness….

“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 ~

This is a statement about the fundamental, unalienable rights that all people are believed to possess. When it comes to Life and Liberty, these rights are considered inherent to all individuals and cannot be taken away or denied.

When it comes to the pursuit of happiness, this right is interpreted as the freedom to pursue one's own goals and aspirations, and to seek fulfillment and well-being.

As the first two are given, somehow happiness is to be pursued?

I think Happiness should have been given like the first two. Therefore Happiness would be something you would possess and not something to only pursue.

Is this possible? I say yes!

Happiness can be a context for your life. A place you come from, which in turn gives you a state of being happy. A state of being, is a clearing for your thoughts, feelings and emotions to appear.

If you stand for being happy, everything that happens to you, whether you consider it bad or good, just reminds you that you are happy. Anger, sadness, loss, etc. all become just parts of being happy.

I’m suggesting to make happiness your normal resting place for your state of being.

It is never about what happens to you, it’s about how you relate to what happens to you. How you relate to what happens is based on the background commitment which shapes your perception of what’s happening. That background commitment can be that you are happy and each moment trues itself against that background wall.

If you only consider happiness to be a feeling or emotion it will be there briefly and then dissipate. Strong feelings and emotions happen in the present and require re-creation moment to moment. For the most part we’re not very good at staying in the moment, hence as soon as we try to hold onto and emotion or feeling it dissipates.

With happiness as your foundation for being, your emotions have the freedom to come and go and you can enjoy them all. Yes you will still also feel really happy when happiness is happening. But even when you are feeling sad, underneath you are still happy that you are an alive human being, privileged with the abilities to feel various emotions.

So feelings and emotions become a gift you experience everyday. By allowing them to be, in turn they let you be. This state of being is Happiness.

In that space you experience unconditional love… for yourself and others.

For Socrates, happiness was not a temporary emotion but a state of well-being that results from living a life of virtue and wisdom.

I am not saying there is no suffering in the world. People suffered throughout the ages and to this day. All sorts of wars, plaques, holocaust’s, genocides, famine, etc. I am saying that underneath all that is happening there is still your resting state for being.

That resting state for being can be happiness.

"There is no path to happiness; happiness is the path"

~ Buddha ~

"If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present"

~ Lao Tzu ~

“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down 'happy'. They told me I didn't understand the assignment, and I told them they didn't understand life.”

~ John Lennon ~