Happiness

Though no one cares, here are my philosophies on happiness, all of which I’ve already written about before but whatever. This blog pretty much cycles through the same topics every 2 years.

It is my strong belief that in regards to certain things in life, if you make those things your primary goal, you will not get them. For example, world peace. A good thing. A great thing. Everyone wants it. But if that becomes the foremost goal of a country, you won’t get it. Like Chamberlain’s principle of appeasement before WWII. He wanted to pursue peace at all costs, and it didn’t happen. Roosevelt was wise enough to realize that the right thing to do wasn’t pursue peace at any costs; he did that lend/lease thing which essentially provoked war. Pursue what is right, and you may get peace. But pursue peace on its own terms, and you won’t get it.

I feel the same way about personal happiness. If your goal in life is to be happy, you won’t achieve it, that’s just not how it works. My dad pointed this out, but that’s probably a contributing factor to the high rate of divorce in Western society. People desire first and foremost personal happiness from marriage. Which makes it almost certain that they won’t get it. Happiness, in marriage and elsewhere, comes as a side effect when you commit to something else, something besides happiness itself.

So to be happy, we shouldn’t look to do what makes us happy. We should look to do what is right. And if we’re unhappy, trying to do things that make us happy will only make us unhappier. What we really need is a purpose beyond ourselves. That’s my opinion.

So in regards to my last entry, I’m not saying I tend to choose things that make me happy. What I’m really saying is that I tend to avoid things I know will likely make me unhappy. Just clarifying something no one cares about.