Life, liberty, and the never ending pursuit of happiness.. That is how it should have been stated. We all live, but are we truly living? We claim liberty, but are we really free? Can one ever truly be happy?
I believe happiness is not a worthy pursuit at all. Instead, we must choose to be happy despite our current circumstances. One may call this being joyful and it is easier said than done.
One cannot always be happy and we just have to accept that. To pursue happiness is to chase the wind. If it is our focus, it will never be attained. We can feel the wind. So too can we feel joy if we allow ourselves too.
The pursuit of happiness is also very self-centered. What about others' happiness? Are we willing to sacrifice theirs so we may be granted ours? This appears to be the case: parents pursuing what they think they want while forgetting their kids' happiness; us being blind to the hurts of others because doing so would bring us down and their happiness is not what concerns us as long as we remain intact emotionally; people going to greater and greater lengths just to 'feel happy' from time to time without regard to how their behavior effects those around them.
I believe pursuing other people's happiness can be a great source of joy in our own lives.
One reaps what one sows.
To love others with the sole purpose of bringing them joy will bring one joy as well, if we allow it to. There will be times the love is not reciprocated and people pleasing is not what I am aiming at here, but there are those that will respond to our genuine acts of love and will return the favour.
Those relationships should be cherished and fostered. Never deviate from loving the other for their sake or the whole thing will fall apart because we will have allowed selfishness and our pursuit of happiness to creep in once again.
Let us love, and do unto, our neighbour as we love, and would have done unto, ourselves.
