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Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Just what is happiness?
By Henrylito D. Tacio
Regarding Henry
IF YOU think mall is only for shopping, then you have not been to the Mall of America in Minnesota. I have been to the said mall three times already--the last time was last year and it was a day after Christmas.
My sister Elena and her husband--Engineer Daniel Chase--had promised they would bring their two kids (Erik and Phil) to the mall. When they heard about it, they were ecstatic. The reason: Camp Snoopy.
Camp Snoopy, if you care to know, is considered the largest indoor family theme park in the United States with 400 live plants. Enjoy more than 30 remarkable rides and adventures including the Pepsi Ripsaw Roller Coaster, the Mighty Axe and the Xcel Energy Log Chute.
Take a whirlwind ride on its latest roller coaster, the speeding and spiraling Timberland Twister.
Admission is free but you have to pay for individual rides or attractions or you may opt to purchase the unlimited ride option. Snoopy is one of the most recognized characters of the comic strip "Peanuts."
And the guy who created it was Charles Schultz, who is a native of Saint Paul (the capital of Minnesota).
"My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I'm happy," Schultz once said. "I can't figure it out. What am I doing right?" His remark brings us to the subject: happiness.
"Happiness lies in the taste, and not in the things; and it is from having what we desire that we are happy--not from having what others think desirable," Duc de la Rochefoucauld commented.
Bertrand Russell has the same view when he said, "The secret of happiness is this: Let your interests be as wide as possible, and let your reactions to the things and persons that interest you be as far as possible friendly rather than hostile."
Russell further said, "Mankind has become so much one family that we cannot insure our own prosperity except by insuring that of everyone else. If you wish to be happy yourself, you must resign yourself to seeing others also happy... Contempt for happiness is usually contempt for other people's happiness, and is an elegant disguise for hatred of the human race."
Samuel Taylor Coleridge shares: "The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions--the little soon forgotten charities of a kiss or smile, a kind look, a heartfelt compliment, and the countless infinitesimals of pleasurable and genial feeling."
"The happiest people are rarely the richest, or the most beautiful, or even the most talented," Jane Canfield points out. "Happy people do not depend on excitement and 'fun' supplied by externals. They enjoy the fundamental, often very simple, things of life. They waste no time thinking other pastures are greener; they do not yearn for yesterday or tomorrow.
They savor the moment, glad to be alive, enjoying their work, their families, and the good things around them. They are adaptable; they can bend with the wind, adjust to the changes in their times, enjoy the contests of life, and feel themselves in harmony with the world."
Recent studies have shown that people who are absorbed in tasks they enjoy and find challenging have taken a step toward happiness. Researchers have long recognized that people (particularly the male species) who are married are happier and live longer. So, that makes single men lonely and dies younger?
Another study has shown that people, who are on a regular exercise program, keeping themselves physically in shape, particularly from an aerobic point of view, are happier.
But where is happiness? It is not in unbelief. Voltaire was an infidel of the most pronounced type. He wrote: "I wish I had never been born."
Happiness is not in pleasure. Lord Byron lived a life of pleasure, if anyone did. He wrote: "The worm, the canker, and the grief are mine alone."
Happiness is not in wealth. Jay Gould, the American millionaire, had plenty of that. When dying, he said, "I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth."
Happiness is not in position and fame. Lord Beaconsfield enjoyed more than his share of both. He remarked, "Youth is a mistake; manhood, a struggle; old age, a regret."
Happiness is not in military glory. Alexander the Great conquered the known world in his day. Having done so, he wept, because, he said, "There are no more worlds to conquer."
So, where is happiness found? The answer is simple: In Christ alone. The Messiah promised: "I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you."
For comments, write me at tasyo2002@yahoo.com
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (December 21, 2005 issue)
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