Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

"

Most Americans are familiar with these words, even if they don’t know that
they are contained in the introduction to the Declaration of Independence, the
statement announcing that, in 1776, the 13 American colonies were now
independent and no longer under British rule. The full phrase contains the
following words: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
These powerful words and the concepts behind them helped to establish a
platform for democracy in the United States of America and elsewhere in the
world.

The concept of happiness has evolved significantly since 1776 when this
phrase was first introduced. Now we often relate the thought of happiness with
living “the good life,” a concept that has been hijacked by advertisers and
portrayed as a life in which we seek pleasure, relaxation, and, of course,
material goods. Our post-modern society has told us that we can achieve
happiness through consumption. Society has made us think that: if only ... if
only I had a bigger house, a better car, more money, and a better job, I would
be fulfilled.

But more choices and more personal freedom to choose have led to higher
expectations that, in turn, have led to never being satisfied with what we
have! We think we want more, but when we get it, it is not enough. We still
want more. “Enough” becomes a moving target. And we spend so much time
working to pay for things we don’t really want, let alone need. In the pursuit of
the “if only,” we have sacrificed our relationships, our health, and our sanity.

We’ve also been taught that we should expect to have it all and we should
expect to have it now. In other words, we are driven by instant gratification—
and justify it with thoughts like, “just put it on credit,” “there’s no need to earn
the money today,” “pay for it later.” Not just individuals but cities, states, and
nations have embraced and become addicted to this belief as well.

Even the relentless pursuit of pleasure and power has shown itself to be
short-lived because pleasure and power are founded on the same “if only I
had more” logic. Left unchecked, these motivational forces comprise a vicious
cycle and manifest themselves as an endless—and joyless—undertaking
much like that experienced by the Greek hero Sisyphus, who was ordered by
the gods to push for eternity a big rock uphill only to see it slip out of his hands
in the very last moment and roll down the hill once more.

Years ago, the Greek philosophers encouraged us to live the so-called “good
life,” but what they really meant was the complete life, the meaningful life.
They suggested, among other things, that we strive to build our character,
virtues, or excellences. Importantly, they encouraged us to do so not only to
benefit ourselves but also to benefit all of society. Aristotle, for instance,
believed that the greatest virtues are those that are most useful to others. The
commonly heard phrase “living the good life,” in this context, means that we
are acting well and living for society, not just for ourselves. U.S. President
John F. Kennedy’s famous line in his 1961 inaugural address exemplifies this
virtuous thought: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can
do for your country.” Unfortunately, today, it appears that we have shifted into
more of a self-centered “what can my country/politician/others do for me”
mode of thinking instead.