If you were to do a little research, you'd find that nearly three million people on the planet search (on a search engine!) for happiness (over a thirty day period!). Add to that another thirty million who search for 'happy', and it would appear that there are a whole lot of unhappy folks on the planet. Everybody wants it, few know how to "get it".
According to the U.S. Constitution, happiness is a right we all have...or rather, the pursuit of happiness is our right. Taken literally, this would mean that we have the right to look for it, not necessarily the right to find it. That is, if you're reading the Constitution. If, on the other hand, you were to read any spiritual text, from the Bible to The Tao (and pretty much everything in between), you'd find that it's nothing you need search for at all. Because it's right here, right now, inside each and every one of us.
And then there are the poets. The ones who struggled to find meaning in very much the same way we struggle to find happiness. Among the many quotes, one that has always stuck in my mind is: "The pursuit of happiness is a most ridiculous phrase. If you pursue happiness you'll never find it." How very true this rings.
Perhaps the reason we keep searching is because we haven't yet realized this very simple truth. More often than not, we dismiss such simplistic ideas in favor of more complicated theories. Like going on a road trip and tossing the map out the window just as you pull out of your driveway. Rather than using the map to guide us, to make the trip as pleasant and easy as we can, we sabotage the whole journey. As if we don't want to arrive. As if we'd rather get lost a hundred times along the way. Why? Are we so afraid that happiness isn't real? Or are we afraid that once we've tasted it's sweetness we may never taste it again? Do we avoid happiness because we don't want to lose it? Like that old saying, "You won't miss what you've never had." Is this why we make it so hard to LIVE happiness?
Happiness, joy, love, peace, all these things are here...right now. They are as much a part of us as our cells are to our bodies. They came with us 'from whence we came', before we arrived in these physical forms. These are the fibers of our inherent Being. Not things that need be pursued or uncovered.
I believe happiness is an inside job. It's not something we need to find, it is simply a 'thing' to BE. We get to choose. We get to make the conscious decision to either BE happy...or not. It is not a matter of deserving happiness or being born into it. It is not in any way related to wealth or poverty, family or circumstance. Happiness is a state of BEING. We are Beings. We are happiness. We have no need to deny who (or what) we are.
Camille Strate
Camille Strate is a blossoming Being who spends much of her time writing. She also spends an immense amount of time crafting magickal treasures out of wood. When she makes time for it, she rolls around in the grass with her dogs and cat, pretending to be 9 years old. More often than not, she's got a smile on her face & a whole boat-load of love in her heart. Visiting
her website is highly recommended.
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