happiness

Perhaps I was a little too harsh and confining with my previous vague definition of happiness. In order to emphasize and uplift the meaning of joy, I belittled the meaning of happiness, and since have felt a little remorseful. So here I am, sitting with my happy cup of coffee, feeling rather guilty. Though joy and happiness are much different, happiness does go deeper than a cup of coffee. :)

“Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.” –Joseph Addison

Often, we hear the word happiness. We may even experience it; in fact we all have experienced it to some degree even if just for a moment. For some, it is the absence of sorrow, or relief of pain. For others it is an exciting feeling of immense pleasure that can take on many forms, whether it is as small as a piece of chocolate or a scented flower, or something greater like going to your wedding. But what exactly, is pure happiness? From a broad perspective, Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines happiness as “the enjoyment of pleasure without pain, gratifying desires, luck, or fortune.” The word happy is similarly defined as lucky, fortunate, and successful. Furthermore, it defines happy as “receiving good from something that springs up to us unexpectedly, and that is out of our control.” Finally, it says that “the pleasurable sensations derived from the gratification of sensual appetites render a person temporarily happy; but he only can be esteemed really and permanently happy, who enjoys peace of mind in the favor of God.”

For me, happiness often springs up. I find pleasure in many things-sunshine, rain, tea, warm socks, chocolate. Yet, what is the fundamental aspect of happiness? I believe Joseph Addison was right in his “three grand essentials”. The first, “something to do”, could very well mean a life work- doing what we do best and working diligently to accomplish what we are called to do. No matter how small or great, finding something that we can do well, and contributing to life and giving to others is fulfilling, and does bring happiness-perhaps prosperity, which brings us back to the definition of happiness. The second essential is love. Having something or someone to love and receiving love back is crucial for happiness. In fact, I believe happiness in its purest form is love. Love expressed through words, actions, time spent with another, gifts received or given, and other ways. In a way, happiness can be given and received by the form of love.

Finally, in the third grand essential, “something to hope for,” indicates happiness in the future. In Webster’s dictionary, it says that “to be in any degree happy we must be free from pain both of body and of mind.” Furthermore, it says “perfect happiness, or pleasure unalloyed with pain, is not attainable in this life.” I would agree, and assume from these defining points in Webster’s dictionary that we can only experience partial happiness -tastes of it in this life. For this reason, it points back to the statement about one who “enjoys peace of mind in the favor of God”, can really only be “esteemed really and permanently happy”. I believe this is true, and the hope that I embrace is one not rooted in this world, but one of heaven that is yet to come. Hoping for something brings energy to keep on and anticipation for happiness, whether it is something that can be attained on this earth, or eternally. Happiness can be described in a thousand ways, just as there are a thousand different things that can bring happiness, but I would conclude that the three grand essentials shape the major pieces of our happiness with love being the most prominent. I know that God’s love for me has been the greatest happiness I have experienced, and my eyes are ever fixed on the completion of that happiness in being forever with Him. I think George Sand was not far off when he said, “There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.”


k.e.h.