THE SEARCH FOR

8.2.1
TRUE HAPPINESS

This chapter presents the following key learning points:

• the desire for happiness is one of the most important
reasons why people behave as they do
• The desire for happiness can tempt people to try to
escape unhappiness
• The search for happiness can be completely satisfied
only by God

The desire for happiness is one of the most important

reasons why people behave as they do
People desire happiness in their lives. This leads them to
try to create situations they hope will give them lasting
happiness. Some try to make a lot of money or acquire material
possessions. Some also try to become famous, gain power over
events and people or behave in ways to impress peers.

People who look for happiness in these ways are never fully
satisfied. They always want more because what they have is
never enough.

Some try to make a lot of

In Class Work
money or acquire material Explain why wealth, fame, power and approval of
possessions to give them peers do not bring lasting happiness.
lasting happiness.

The desire for happiness can tempt people to try to

escape unhappiness
In their desire to be happy, people can sometimes try to escape from unhappiness by
being pressured by peer groups, taking drugs, bullying others, getting drunk or shutting
themselves off from others.

YEAR 8 | COME FOLLOW ME 1

 Journal Activity
1. Write about a time when you have been truly happy and explain why.
2. Where do you think true happiness can be found?
3. Can people be happy forever? Explain.

The desire for true and lasting happiness is very deep.

It comes from the heart or ‘core’ of the person.

This leads people to ask:

WHICH W
• What is true happiness? AY?
• Can I ever find it?
• Where can it be found?
• How can I be happy forever?

The search for happiness can be completely satisfied only by God

When people find that their desire for true happiness cannot be satisfied fully by anyone or
anything in this world, they begin to wonder where it can be found. This can lead many to look
beyond this world to its Creator.

God created the desire for true happiness deep within the human heart in order to encourage
each individual to seek God.

The desire for true happiness, therefore, is really a desire for God. St Augustine, a great writer of
the Church wrote more than fifteen hundred years ago:

‘You are great, O Lord … for you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless
until they rest in you.’ (Confessions 1.1, 1)

Journal Activity
Think of a time when you tried to escape unhappiness. Record the situation that
made you feel unhappy and write about what you did in order to seek happiness.

How did you feel after this experience?

2 YEAR 8 | COME FOLLOW ME