Over 2300 years ago, Aristotle observed that more than anything else, women and men seek Happiness. Indeed, the great philosophers throughout antiquity informed our founding fathers to conclude that our great nation would provide fertile soil for anyone, regardless of their origins, to have a secure life, live in liberty, and pursue Happiness. Happiness is its own goal, but we seek everything else, assuming that health, beauty, money, power will bring us Happiness. And yet, true lasting Happiness is a rare thing. Regardless of all of the dazzling technology, bread, and circuses of every imaginable type, countless ways to defeat boredom, people often end up feeling that they waste their lives. They don't find lasting Happiness, with their years spent battling anxiety and boredom.
Happiness is the antidote to chaos. But how do we find Happiness? This question, my friends, is both simple to describe and incredibly difficult to map out. It's simple in that Happiness is there, right in front of you, right now. What is difficult is that it is a condition that must be prepared for, cultivated, and defended privately by each individual. Authentic Happiness is the loneliest pursuit because it is ultimately the most personal of journeys.
As Viktor Frankl said in his seminal work "Man's Search for Meaning," "Don't aim at success - the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like Happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue as the unintended side effect of one's dedication to a course greater than oneself." Each time I read this quote, I get a chill because it reveals so much. It says that to be fulfilled, we must battle against our demons and create our lives independently. This reality is both frightening and enlightening. We cannot expect Happiness to present itself without trial. Happiness, the antidote to chaos, comes from our good works. Application of our blood and sweat to a "course greater than oneself." And I know that it doesn't matter when you come to this realization. No matter the age, no matter the circumstances, true Happiness is within your grasp. I genuinely believe this.
Perhaps the true challenge here is to find that course, that path to which we dedicate ourselves, to find our purpose. Regardless of what you might identify as an overarching purpose, I believe we all have many common purposes. Here are a few of them;
- Live
- Love
- Matter
- Take the gifts you've been given, and in the face of the challenges you've been presented, develop these gifts to the best of your ability.
If your gift is to write, then write often. If your gift is to teach, then be the teacher, always. If your gift is to lighten the load of others, then serve every day. Find your values and your gifts, first and foremost, and build from that. What you might find is that Happiness then is found in what is known as Flow.
As a school of psychological thought, Mihaly Csikszentmihaly (Chick-sent-me-high) coined the term Flow. Flow is a state of mind where we become absorbed in an activity. Runners often talk about Flow as the state when they no longer feel the pain of exertion. They become focused, trancelike, on the matter at hand. Would you believe that Flow can be called upon on demand? I believe this too. And I'm on a quest to prove it to you.
Over the next several weeks, I am going to focus on this concept of Flow. I mean, imagine if you could find deep intense focus in every task. Some people find this state naturally; it's one of their gifts. Others must work at it. I find that the things you have to work for are the most appreciated and last the longest.
Be well, dear reader.
