“Life, as it is called, is for most of us one long postponement.” Henry Miller
There’s so much written on how to find happiness, I have to suppose a lot of people are looking for it. Are we happy? Do we dare ask the question to often? I think not since I suspect most of us are not happy most of the time.
Not to get to pessimistic here, but looking for happiness may be the wrong way to find happiness. Happiness is not a condition that exists by itself – it is always part of another experience or event. As obvious as this is, it seems to escape us. That’s why the expressions “this makes me happy” or “you make me happy” are often used to express the condition when it exists.
I sense one reason for our ambivalence is how happiness is packaged to sell products. Advertisers successfully create the notion you are supposed to be happy all of the time and somehow buying their product is the cause of our well being.
We all know this is nonsense. We know there is no one thing that makes us happy. But tugging at the back of our mind is the notion that maybe someone really is happy all of the time. We are particularly vulnerable to this nonsense when we are going through a difficult period. Advertisers know this and continually exploit it to make their product more appealing.
I prefer to use the word fulfillment in place of happiness. Part of the definitions of fulfillment is “to measure up to, to satisfy, to convert into reality.” That’s something I can deal with.
No matter what we have to do at any given time, no matter how distasteful or relatively insignificant the chore may be, it usually has a goal or accomplishment attached to its completion. It may be inconsequential or as profound as meeting your family responsibilities or earning a living. As it was once explained to me, “the work is not very inspiring, but it makes for good weekends.” Simply doing something well, can be its own fulfillment.
Discipline and the act of completion have a nice feel to it. No matter what problems are bothering you at the moment, there is something nice about knowing you can get things done. It creates a sense of well being that offsets what Henry Miller said about life being one long postponement.
Life may be, but while we are waiting - we get a lot done and that’s not bad. Try it sometime.
Brother Giovanni
opd 710
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