Fundamental Principles

As of lately I've really been contemplating this "idea" of happiness we supposedly all share... 

Let me start by making reference  to Will Smith's character, Christopher Gardner, in The Pursuit of Happiness...he says something very profound, so profound in fact that I caught it creating a whirlwind of thought inside of me.

Christopher Gardner-The Pursuit of Happiness: "It was right then that I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence and the part about our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I remember thinking how did he know to put the pursuit part in there? That maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue and maybe we can actually never have it. No matter what. How did he know that?"



Now that, my friends, I call a travesty.

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.


As Americans, it is in Our Declaration of Independence, our fundamental declaration, to reserve the right to pursue happiness. But lets step back a second and really think about that. I believe, in my heart of hearts, that was written within the best of intentions, I really do, but lets think of just how mass defining that became?!  Lets break this down.

pur·sue  

/pərˈso͞o/

Verb Follow (someone or something) to catch or attack them. First, according to the definition.. we could say to pursue happiness means to attack happiness.  Ironic, huh?  Pursing because of a want yet feeding its demise, possibly? Okay, well also to pursue means to be without, right? Otherwise there would be no need to "catch".  Also, "to catch" then gives the means "to chase", which then meaning that something is ahead of us, therefore future.  So, even though our Declaration of Independence declares the preservation of the right of the pursuit of happiness, what do you think that implies? Why doesn't it read "The right to be happy"?  Well then sure, the efforts of achievement or sustainability could end up in debate.  So why not say, "The right to the be happy as well as the terms that of which are self defined."  If its "terms" that then is up for question as being immoral or politically incorrect then wouldn't "pursuit" be subjected to the same interpretation? What I'm getting at here is the question of whether or not our nation's definition of happiness has been defined in accordance with its Declaration obtain-ability right.  As Americans, do we truly believe that happiness always lies one step ahead of us?  As only a pursuit? That to achieve happiness we have to strive for an accomplishment and hope that its there?  It makes sense in our capitalistic world.  Be rich, have a big house, have nice cars, get married, all various standards that we are set to follow.  But isn't happiness our main goal, as people, as humans?  Isn't that the underlining motivation to our every action?  We go to school because its set by standard, so we do it to please.  We get married in hopes to not be alone because that's "miserable", therefore a marry for happiness.  For so long we have correlated our actions with pursuits of happiness that its completely logical to question if it truly is obtainable.   What happens along the way?  Or when we buy the big house or marry the spouse?  Its not like we think Eureka!  I am now forever happy! Hell no, we find the next challenge.  Some of us do find ourselves in various states of happy, but we find something else to work for to increase that happiness.  Which I'm by no means devaluing determination or the need of continuously being challenged, but if you think by accomplishing the next step is going to make things better for yourself emotionally, you are mistaken.  The value of challenging oneself or constantly striving finds its value in experience, which is knowledge.   Knowledge and Happiness are two different things. So then, when we don't find our happiness, or when its not given to us, we project blame.  We become bitter.  We curse the system, each other, or ourselves.  So then, instead of happiness we CHOOSE to feel bitter. What is feeling?  Emotion. e·mo·tion   /iˈmōSHən/ Noun A natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others.

"Deriving from circumstances, mood, or relationships with others." 

First.  Lets throw mood out of there while I make my point here because one's mood is relative and has to live in conjunction with other factors. 

Circumstances as well as relationships with others both live OUTSIDE OF SELF.  

So then, how we feel on things, as we've defined in our English Language is that FEELING is derived from OUTSIDE SOURCES.  That then leads me to ask, if OUTSIDE SOURCES, marriage, cars, jobs, relationships, etc are not making us happy, then they are also what makes us bitter or angry, right?  But then, why is it that people that have all the things that we strive our whole lives for have happiness, but then others do not?

The answer lies in perception.

per·cep·tion  

/pərˈsepSHən/

Noun The ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses. The state of being or process of becoming aware of something in such a way.

Synonyms realization - understanding - comprehension

"in such a way"

So isn't it then that we base our happiness on achievements based on the outcomes we see them have on others?  Logical enough.  If the relationship of X and Y has the outcome of Z, then if I have X and Y then I will have Z as well.  Stated that way, it makes complete sense.  But since we are speaking in the terms of challenges, I challenge you to ask Addition how well that worked out for him when he looked at the life of Division.

Think about it.  We all are individuals, and even if we aren't looking at each other in hopes of learning how to be happy, we are following standards that have been set for us in this life.  We all follow a similar life latter.  Go to school, go to college, get a job, make money, get married, have kids, retire, be cared for by our kids, then die.  But if that's set for us, then its not decided by us, as individuals.  Yes, we CHOOSE TO PARTICIPATE. But we do not form our own latter based on pure self evaluation.  But yet, but choosing to participate we hope to find happiness.  If by following that process true happiness is found, then I consider that dumb pure luck, and congrats.

Okay so.  This is all spelled out.  Happiness comes from inside.  Sitting in self-spection and evaluating TRUE WANTS, TRUE NEEDS.  Not bringing in any sort of outside influence to compare and contrast.  This process has been defined all throughout time.  Meditation, Prayer, Union with God, Finding Center, Peace, the list goes on.  But that's not what this post is about.

Okay so what? Be Happy.  That's wisdom that you can find on drug store coffee mugs, but we right it off.  Just be you, hell, just be happy. Everything I'm saying here makes utter and complete sense. Now what? Throw everything that sits outside of us away? Pay it no mind?  HARDLY.  That's missing the point all together.  Not only would it be impossible since we are subjected to maneuvering through the material/social world.

That's where the confusion comes in. We have completely disregarded the difference in definitions of two monumental human experiences. Here we are, century after century looking to ACHIEVE happiness when all along HAPPINESS IS OUR NATURAL STATE. Here's the kicker...

happiness  

Web definitions state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn Take notice to the scale. Happiness range: (0) contentment ----> (10) intense joy. If happiness is our natural state, we can be no less than content. Next, the word "enjoyment" comes from the root word "joy". Joy noun 1. the emotion of great delight caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation: She felt the joy of seeing her son's success. 2. a source or cause of keen pleasure or delight; something or someone greatly valued or appreciated: Her prose style is a pure joy. 3. the expression or display of glad feeling; festive gaiety. Okay, so here you see, joy is "caused by something."

We have replaced enjoyment with happiness, leaving happiness' original placement as a VOID.  Let that sink in.

Or in other words

                                                       

But by replacing Happiness with Enjoyment.. 

So do you see where the "empty" feeling comes from? By projecting happiness outside of ourselves.  Also do you see how Happiness being outside of Self makes it only live in the realm of pursuit?  It then lives outside of us, we can be near it, but not immersed by it.  And notice how enjoyment is completely gone?  Completely logical, yet we as a mass we have yet to shift our thinking.  Mind boggling.

That, my friends, is where the outside influence fits. If we are living in our already "happy" state we then can ENJOY outside things. You don't enjoy things when you are grumpy. And if happiness is achieved by an outside influence, it has to be taken. Think about this. Happiness is an emotion, meaning something we feel inside of us. So for something to make us happy we have to essentially, bring it in. Also, if we got it from the outside, we had to "take", right?

(Explain to me how a house can fit inside of a person, please.) (Guess this explains why everyone is "happy" during the actual physical act of sex.)

Lets talk about relationships, for the sake of an example.

If you think someone makes you happy, meaning you were not happy before them, they had to give you something, right?

So to not be happy before them, you were essentially missing something.  So a lack was fulfilled.  Let me demonstrate.

This demonstrates how each person feels about themselves.

Person 1 feels as if they are lacking the middle, which person 2 has.  Person 2 feels as if they are lacking the middle sides, which Person 1 has.  They each feel that they need these traits in a partner in order to be happy, to achieve balance.  It is possible that neither Person 1 or 2 is even aware that they feel that they are lacking, they could only be aware of the feeling that they need a partner to have certain characteristics.  Person 1 could say I need a partner who has a middle.  They "think that's important".  But remember, for it to be a need, it stems from a lack.  

So coming together they think that they can create a sense of whole, which in turn can grant them happiness.

So then, by theory, this creates happiness.

Now, surrounded by happiness.

However, we are still talking about 2 individuals, remember.

So really, there isn't enough happiness to go around.  2 individuals but only 1 "Happiness".  Look at how much of each individual is now left without.

So, lets now put back the Responsibility of Self into its rightful state.

Both people are now shown in their Natural State of Happy.

Lets see what happens when they come together.

Enjoyment now has a place.

Isn't that our goal?  Enjoyment?

BE HAPPY and STRIVE for ENJOYMENT 

Apply the concept that I used to demonstrate relationships between people to relationships of all things.  A car isn't alive and doesn't have a natural "happy" state, so that being said, isn't it then up to question that if a car doesn't carry its own "happy" how can it then give it to us?  Because clearly, we have for so long confused happiness with enjoyment, thinking that adding something to our void would create happy, when really, the truth lies in adding something into our happy, to create enjoyment. 

That, my friends, is our foundation.

Again, just food for thought.

One last thought- If practice makes perfect, why do we practice anxiety in the hopes of achieving future happiness?  

What we practice, we master.