Someone I care deeply for once told me they needed to find out what made them happy. They were telling me how they felt displeased with their accomplishments so far in their life, and they wanted the opportunity to live the rest of it in ultimate freedom. They were adamant their success could not be measured by what they had already attained or experienced, but that their true happiness was somewhere out there, beyond what their eyes could currently see.
I have always been a spirit in transformation, that is, always adapting, changing based on what the current circumstances were throwing my way. However, I will admit there are times I feel really stuck, as though my life has become as stagnant as a pond full of algae, with nothing flowing into it to make the user experience better for me.
So, it is correct for me to say I have struggled with feeling happy in my life. God has tossed so many wild cards in my direction it seems I can’t make heads or tails of anything anymore. I have at times declared life is not worth living, thus announcing I am giving up, in utter despair, and I sincerely could not endure another day like this.
So both of us have ideas and experiences coloring how we define happiness, and how we expect life to grant this to us.
One question I have is: is it possible to be happy in this life?
My initial response is yes, but it probably won’t look the way we were hoping it would.
If we believe there is a purpose to our lives and meaning in all the events happening to us, we would eventually come to the conclusion all of this – the good, the bad, and the ugly – serves as one big profound lesson to us. In the school we call life, we must all come to terms with what is happening around us and to us, and remind ourselves everything is occurring for a reason. Our job is to love our Creator, ourselves and others, and endure and persevere as best we can.
So, if we go through life believing it should be easy, with no hardships, how can we truly know what makes us happy? Should we not be willing to experience what makes us not-so-happy, in order for us to know what would?
But, assuming we are willing to take on this adventure with perseverance in mind, regardless of the outcome, why should happiness be our ultimate goal? Isn’t there something else at work here, other than whether we are content?
Ecclesiastes says something interesting, that this same person pointed out to me several years ago, when I was feeling down and depressed about my life and my calling: “So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God.” (Ecclesiastes 2:24 NIV). When I think about this verse, I realize that God’s idea of happiness is quite a bit different from ours.
Humanity struggles daily with finding contentment, and will run to and fro, search high and low, under rocks and on mountaintops, for this one thing. But God sees happiness – or should I say, contentment – as something found deep within us. If we understand God makes up the fabric of the universe in the most elemental way, then we should all be able to discover that finding happiness may be a lot easier than we make it out to be. If we believe God has good things in store for us, and also embodies the essence of love and joy, then it makes logical sense that wherever God is present, there our joy would be also.
There is no God out there in the universe that has planned in advance for our lives to be as unhappy as possible. I think perspective is everything in this regard. Ideally, we should be able to look at any situation we are in, and say, yes, this is definitely challenging…but can I find any contentment in this at all? Is there any good in my situation, anything I can be grateful for or happy about?
I think, if we can get to this point, we have discovered true happiness. May we all find it someday.