The Pursuit of Happiness
"You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever."
(Ps. 16:11 NASU)
There is a wonderful quote from Ben Franklin that always makes me laugh and smile. It goes, "The Declaration of Independence only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself."
I know that every time that I pursue happiness I end up feeling like a little boy chasing a butterfly without a net. No matter how quickly I run after it, or how quietly I creep up on it each time I am about to catch it I only end up watching it flutter away.
I have found, however, that when I stop chasing after happiness and just relax that something amazing happens. When I stop my pursuit and take a while to just breath deeply, smile, and thank God for this beautiful life I have been given, I find that this wonderful butterfly stops flying away and starts peacefully circling around me. When I then take my eyes off of it and begin to just choose and share love expecting nothing in return, I find that this beautiful butterfly joyously floats down and lands on my head.
Maybe we all need to stop pursuing happiness so hard and start just living it instead. God loves each of us and God wants each of us to be happy. We don’t have to chase endlessly after it. We just have to choose it and share it all though the day, everyday of our lives. When we are thankful to God for this life we have been given we will have peace. When we love God, ourselves, and others we will have joy. When we live the way that we were meant to live we will have happiness. We all may have the right to pursue happiness, but it is best when we just give up the chase and go through our lives with love in our hearts, joy in our souls, a smile on our faces, and a butterfly on top of our heads.
Joseph J. Mazzella