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Everybody
wants to be happy. You want to be happy, and I want to be
happy. The human person has a natural thirst for
happiness, and we do the things we do because we believe they
will make us happy.
From time
to time, people do stupid things. We may look at them and
scratch our heads. We may wonder, "Why would anybody
ever do something so stupid?" or, "Don't they know
that is going to make them miserable?" But be
assured, the reason people do stupid things is because they
mistakenly believe those stupid things will make them happy.
People do
not wake up in the morning and ask themselves, "How can I
make myself miserable today?"
The human
heart is on a quest for happiness. We give this happiness
different names and masks, and we live our lives in search of
it.
This is
the great modern paradox: We know the things that make us
happy; we just don't do them.
* * * * *
There are
four aspects to the human person: physical, emotional,
intellectual, and spiritual.
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Physically,
when you exercise regularly, sleep regularly, eat the right sorts
of foods, and balance your diet, how do you feel? You feel
fantastic. You feel more fully alive. You're
healthier, happier, and you have a richer, more abundant
experience of life.
Emotionally,
when you focus and give priority to your relationships, what
happens? You switch the focus off yourself and onto
others. As you do, your ability to love increases. .
. and as your ability to love increases, your ability to
be loved increases. You become more aware of yourself,
develop a more balanced view of life, and experience a deeper
sense of fulfillment. You're healthier. You're
happier.
Intellectually,
when you take ten or fifteen minutes a day to read a good book,
what happens? Your vision of yourself expands; your vision
of the world expands. You become more focused, more alert,
and more vibrant. Clarity replaces confusion. You feel
more fully alive, and you are happier.
Finally,
spiritually, when you take a few moments each day to step into the
classroom of silence and reconnect with yourself and with your
God, what happens? The gentle voice within grows stronger,
and you develop a deeper sense of peace, purpose, and
direction. You're healthier, you're happier, and you have a
richer experience of life.
Physically,
emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually, we know the things
that infuse our lives with passion and enthusiasm. We know
the things that make us happy. We just don't do them.
It doesn't
make sense, does it?
On the one
hand, we all want to be happy. On the other hand, we all
know the things that make us happy. But we don't do those
things. Why? Simple. We are too busy. Too
busy doing what? Too busy trying to be happy.
This is the
paradox of happiness that has bewildered our age.
Too Busy
Doing What?
Physically--we
don't exercise regularly because we're too busy. We don't
eat the right types of food, because they take too long to
prepare, it's too easy to go through the drive-through, and we're
too busy.
We don't
sleep regularly because there are still only twenty-four hours in
a day. We feel as though our lives have a momentum of their
own, that they would go on with or without us. Our list of
the things we have to do just gets longer and longer. We
never feel that we get caught up; we just get more and more behind
every day. Seriously, when was the last time you sat down,
took a deep breath, and said to yourself, "I'm caught up
now!" So we rush around late at night doing fifty-five
little things before we go to bed and robbing ourselves of the
precious sleep that rebuilds and rejuvenates us. Why?
We are too busy.
Intellectually--we
don't even take those ten or fifteen minutes each day to read good
books that challenge us to change, to grow, and to become
the-best-version-of-ourselves. Why? We don't have
time. We are too busy.
Spiritually--most
people very rarely step into the classroom of silence to reconnect
with themselves and their God. Why? We are afraid of
what we might discover about ourselves and about our lives.
We are afraid we might be challenged to change. And we are
too busy.
* * * * *
It begs the
question, doesn't it? What are we all too busy doing?
For the
most part, we are too busy doing just about everything that means
just about nothing, to just about nobody, just about anywhere. . .
and it will mean even less to anyone a hundred years from now!
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