Happiness or Contentment

Happiness, or rather, the pursuit of happiness, is enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. Certainly we all seek it, yet increasingly it seems that fewer and fewer people are finding it.

Maybe we should seek contentment.

Now, before I go any further, let explain just what those two words mean in this discussion.

I think of happiness as a quick thrill, like a junkie getting a “fix”. It only lasts so long. Happiness is that feeling when the book that was on back-order for so long finally arrives. Contentment, on the other hand, is the enjoyment that comes from reading it, perhaps for the second time.

Happiness is being one-up on the Joneses, having a new car, or a bigger house, whereas contentment is being only vaguely aware of just who the Joneses even are. Happiness happens to you, it’s external and pushes in whereas contentment is within you and flows out.

Some years ago, I recall reading about a woman of French ancestry who moved there, and was doing her best to fit in, to actually become French. She had learned to speak quite fluently while still in the US but was taking courses to speak it perfectly. She told her instructor that, despite her best efforts, something was different, she just did not feel French. His response was most insightful.

He told her that life in America revolves around two verbs, faire [to do] and avoir [to have], whereas life in France is about être [to be]. She was living in the former and needed to line in the latter.

Modern media shouts into our ears “What are you doing”, “Where are you going?”, whereas

contentment whispers “You’re already there. Instead of “What did you buy?”, contentment whispers “You already have more than you need”.

During their quest for happiness, people are bombarded by slogans like “Just do it”, “Make it happen”, or “Go for it”. They’re racing to be happy, ands slowly it’s making them miserable. They’re dying to live, and it’s killing them.

There’s an old stage play called “You Can’t take It With You”. In 1938 they even made a movie out of it. The reason that I bring this up is because in the play, the grandfather makes the statement “Life is kind of beautiful, if you let it come to you”.

This is also true of happiness.

Forget the media, forget the expectations of others, and live in the moment. Live in the être, and let happiness come to you.

Perhaps it is already within you just waiting to be let out.

It’s something to think about.