Happiness may well be the most important thing in the world to most of us.  We all seek it.  It is human nature to do so.  The lure of happiness pulls at us like a magnet, and we constantly search for new routes that will take us to greater levels of happiness.

But how many of us ever attain a state of lasting, true happiness? Certainly we must recognize that nobody can be happy all the time.  We may know people who appear to always be happy, but we can be sure that they have their down days like all the rest of us.  If we didn't experience periods of sadness, as well as periods of happiness, how would we recognize happiness?

If our goal is to live in a state of constant, utopian happiness, we will surely be disappointed.  But many people believe that most of us can be happy most of the time, if we really work at it.  How do we attain this goal of maximum happiness? There is much disagreement over the answer to this question.

The most common routes taken by those in search of happiness are acquiring possessions, and seeking power and status. Many of us believe that, if we only had more wealth, we could purchase the things we really need to make us happy.  Others of us think that if we were just a little more important, we would be happy.  If we were famous and powerful, surely that would make us happy we tend to think.

These common approaches to happiness have been tried over and over throughout the ages and, for the most part, they have failed to bring true happiness to those who seek it in these ways.  History is full of examples of people who achieved fame, fortune and power, but never found true happiness. 

Could Albert Schweitzer be right in his belief that we must seek and find out how to serve in order to be happy?  Is it possible that life is more about serving others than about acquiring possessions for ourselves? Might we all have a basic need to serve others that must be satisfied in order for us to experience true happiness for ourselves? These are just thoughts.  Maybe they're not true at all. But, on the other hand, if we have failed to find happiness by traveling the other roads, how much do we really have to lose by taking a trial journey down this new road?  We may travel only a short distance on this road before deciding to turn back.  But isn't it possible that we might enjoy our journey so much along this new road that we will want to travel it for the rest of our lives? 

Copyright 2014 Allen W. Smith

TB-60—Posted 06/05/2014