The Pursuit of Happiness: Why Choose Joy?

“Always find time for the things that make you feel happy to be alive,”- Author unknown. Happiness can be somewhat of a taboo subject. We are told to put others’ happiness before our own. We are told that happiness is fleeting, that we should not pursue it. Nathaniel Hawthorne once said that “Happiness in this world, when it comes, comes incidentally. Make it the object of pursuit, and it leads us a wild-goose chase, and is never attained. Follow some other object, and very possibly we may find that we have caught happiness without dreaming of it.” But, what if we pursue what brings us joy? What if, by learning to love the lives we live, we seek out those times and events where we take pleasure in the beauty of our lives? What if we intentionally choose the things that make us feel happy to be alive?As we learn to love the lives we live, as we experience love in living a joyful and abundant life, we should carve out time where we enjoy the pleasures of life. For me, this time comes easiest when I am on a hike. I love to explore, I feel invigorated and energized when I reach a hike’s peak, and I love to connect with nature around me. I am completely pleased when I go on a hike. However, when the business of life picks up, when I get lost in duties, responsibilities, errands, and chores, going on a hike falls lower and lower on my list of priorities. Soon, I find myself meandering mindlessly through the monotony of my life. I find myself wondering why I feel drained, emotionless, lifeless. Then, it is only when I find myself in the monotony of life, in the endless cycle of waking up, going to work, coming home, going to sleep only to wake up and repeat the cycle all over again, that I wonder where my fire has gone. If the pursuit of happiness, as evidenced even in the Declaration of Independence, is so crucial to the wellness of life, then why can it be so hard to find? You see, somewhere along the way, we convince ourselves that our happiness is expendable. In the business of life, in the midst of managing responsibilities, schedules, and priorities, we forget to manage time to enjoy our lives. If we are to truly love our lives, if we are to love all the processes, experiences, and events that amount to making each of our lives so unique and influential, then we must begin to forge opportunities for us to take pleasure in our lives. For some of us, this may mean actually scheduling time for ourselves where we can enjoy a long hike, learn a new language, read that book that has been sitting on a lone shelf for months, take a cooking, painting, or photography class, or visit a museum. When we begin to carve out time for even the little things that bring us pleasure, we may find ourselves venturing to that one, almost unobtainable, place that has always been on our bucket list. For, when we create a habit of prioritizing the act of seeking happiness in the crevices of our daily lives, we will allow happiness to flourish in the dreams we never thought we would achieve.However, while it is important to seek happiness, it is equally important to give happiness its proper weight in our lives. Denying ourselves the time space to enjoy the things that fill our hearts and please our souls can create a detachment in our lives. But, allotting happiness too much weight in our lives can deter or distract us from the significance and importance of our lives. We must, then, carefully consider the effect of our own happiness and we must trust our instinct to reward it a proper role in our lives. Then, when we seek happiness in the appropriate way, we will allow joy to root itself in our hearts and we will notice the effects of that joy in our lives. When we allow happiness a foothold in our lives, we may notice a difference in the way that we love the lives we live and even the courses that our lives are taking us. Once we see the way that joy affects us, we will trust its inherent value and we will begin to believe that we are worthy of its value in our own lives. So, take time to enjoy your life this week. How will you find joy and where will you allow happiness to take root in your life?