Benjamin Franklin once famously said:
The Constitution only guarantees you the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself!
I happened to be in the Seattle (Bellevue) area in August to visit a friend, and we attended the East Shore Unitarian Church together. A retired minister, Bruce A. Bode, gave a talk titled, “Do You Like Your Life?“. The way it was delivered and the things he said were inspiring, so I’ve been thinking about sharing some of his thoughts ever since with you. It fits in, I think, with my favorite theme for the Holidays, which is gratitude.
Rev. Bode took us on a journey exploring the question, “Do You Like Your Life?”, from various angles. The journey took us into 8 different “rooms” of reality, each one representing a different way of answering the question. In the first room he explored whether liking your life is an important question to be asking. He ruminates:
- Does it really matter whether or not I like my life?
- What does liking my life have to do with how I should live my life?
- Is there any other form of nature around me that is concerned about whether or not it likes it life?
In the remaining 7 “rooms”, he explores much more and offers some valuable advice on the way:
- We owe it to ourselves and those we care about to devote at least a little time for ourselves and no one else and do something that has no other aim than that we take pleasure in it.
- The way to cultivate our own happiness is to keep our minds on those moments when we are the most alive, noticing what it is that makes us happy and when we feel the most alive. Then stay with it, no matter what other people tell you.
- Don’t “comparison shop” in order to find happiness for yourself.
- Take a step in the direction that you know you need to be going, even if it be the tiniest baby step, because sometimes the wall is just waiting to come down.
- Accept that sometimes there are no solutions and you must live as happily as you can without the answers you seek. Admit it and say it to yourself and others, so they can help you carry the burden.
- Don’t give up! It’s never too late to find a greater depth of meaning and value in life.
To read the full sermon with all the stories and examples that Rev. Bode gives to bring this advice to life, click on the link below. I’m sure he would be happy that I shared this with you.
https://esuc.org/services/do-you-like-your-life/
Mary Oliver has a marvelous poem, with which some of you may be familiar, about moving out in the direction that you know you need to be going. It’s titled, “The Journey.” Listen to this wonderful reading of it from Youtube.
I probably haven’t really answered the question, “Is Happiness an Illusion?“. Think about it this way, happiness is a choice. Happiness is in the heart, not in the circumstances.
Stay tuned for more on this illusive, indefinable quality of life called “happiness”.
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Until next time, enjoy a blessed Holiday Season!