THE VIEW FROM A HOLE IN THE WALL
Truth is certainly recorded in The Declaration of Independence when it states that a person has a right to “the pursuit of happiness.”
From my hole in the wall I see that humans spend most of their lives chasing after the thing they call ‘happiness’. Some catch it for a short time, then usually lose it somewhere along the way.
Happiness appears to be very elusive.
Besides being difficult to attain, it is difficult to define. For a mouse, happiness is cheese without a trap. When it comes to people, some define it as being carefree. Others will say that it’s a state of the soul. For a child it may be holding a puppy. For an adult it can be holding a bank savings statement that shows a large amount.
But happiness doesn’t depend on age. To be told that one is cancer free is happiness at any age. This usually happens with any good news.
Still the quote states that a human has a right to pursue Happiness, along with Life and Liberty. So the right is given, but how does one begin the pursuit of something that eludes definition?
Here is one dictionary’s definition: “. . . a state of well-being and contentment: joy.” Now we are getting somewhere.
Making my way through the pages, I find the definition of joy: “. . . a source or cause of great happiness: something or someone that gives joy to someone.”
I’m confused. Is that someone you or another person?
Another definition is “success in doing, finding, or getting something.” Ahh, now we have a goal that can be pursued – success! But wait a minute. In one of my book travels I learned that some people have clawed and climbed their way to the top and found out there is nothing there. Success, yes. Joy, no.
When I get frustrated and confused with today’s voices, I head for the bookshelf and go into history. It’s been said that when you know history, it can keep you from making the same mistakes. Apparently not many people know or care about past events.
The passing of wisdom from generation to generation, from old to young, isn’t fashionable. Whenever I get into the neighbor’s recycling bin, and chew through a few newspapers, there appears to be a mocking and dismissal of tradition. Pride builds a nest of progressive thinking and emphasizes the need to avoid traps of the past.
Some of my favorite travels on the bookshelves are with Charles Dickens. It’s said that he was not content with being original. He had a wild wish to be true.
Mister Scrooge, one of Dickens’ characters, was confronted by truth in the form of ghostly appearances. Earlier this successful man thought the pursuit of material possessions was the source of joyful happiness. From visits to the past, present, and future, he found out that this chase resulted in a dead-end loneliness.
By learning from the past, Mister Scrooge changed direction and pursued instead the good, the true, and the beautiful.
This right resulted in happiness.
Truth is certainly recorded in The Declaration of Independence when it states that a person has a right to “the pursuit of happiness.”
From my hole in the wall I see that humans spend most of their lives chasing after the thing they call ‘happiness’. Some catch it for a short time, then usually lose it somewhere along the way.
Happiness appears to be very elusive.
Besides being difficult to attain, it is difficult to define. For a mouse, happiness is cheese without a trap. When it comes to people, some define it as being carefree. Others will say that it’s a state of the soul. For a child it may be holding a puppy. For an adult it can be holding a bank savings statement that shows a large amount.
But happiness doesn’t depend on age. To be told that one is cancer free is happiness at any age. This usually happens with any good news.
Still the quote states that a human has a right to pursue Happiness, along with Life and Liberty. So the right is given, but how does one begin the pursuit of something that eludes definition?
Here is one dictionary’s definition: “. . . a state of well-being and contentment: joy.” Now we are getting somewhere.
Making my way through the pages, I find the definition of joy: “. . . a source or cause of great happiness: something or someone that gives joy to someone.”
I’m confused. Is that someone you or another person?
Another definition is “success in doing, finding, or getting something.” Ahh, now we have a goal that can be pursued – success! But wait a minute. In one of my book travels I learned that some people have clawed and climbed their way to the top and found out there is nothing there. Success, yes. Joy, no.
When I get frustrated and confused with today’s voices, I head for the bookshelf and go into history. It’s been said that when you know history, it can keep you from making the same mistakes. Apparently not many people know or care about past events.
The passing of wisdom from generation to generation, from old to young, isn’t fashionable. Whenever I get into the neighbor’s recycling bin, and chew through a few newspapers, there appears to be a mocking and dismissal of tradition. Pride builds a nest of progressive thinking and emphasizes the need to avoid traps of the past.
Some of my favorite travels on the bookshelves are with Charles Dickens. It’s said that he was not content with being original. He had a wild wish to be true.
Mister Scrooge, one of Dickens’ characters, was confronted by truth in the form of ghostly appearances. Earlier this successful man thought the pursuit of material possessions was the source of joyful happiness. From visits to the past, present, and future, he found out that this chase resulted in a dead-end loneliness.
By learning from the past, Mister Scrooge changed direction and pursued instead the good, the true, and the beautiful.
This right resulted in happiness.
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