I tried to write this post titled “Pursuing Happiness,” but that would be too cliché. I was planning a post series about happiness, which I started here, but my schedule prevented me from doing so. For now, I felt an internal nudge telling me to write about this.
Happiness
Too often, we hear people say that man’s ultimate goal is to be happy. I have struggled with the idea as long as I can remember. Growing up as a church minister’s son, I have concluded early in my life that happiness is not paramount. Of course, for a Christian, it means living according to God’s precepts. However, a person’s goal must be rewarding and should always start with something unreachable.
I always wanted to be like my dad. His duties as a pastor of our local church were attractive. Even though I grew up as a shy kid, I will always wonder how my dad interacts with people, treating even strangers like old-time friends. By the time I graduated from elementary school, I had told myself I would be a computer engineer, whatever that profession meant. I would never follow any of those two since I took up business administration after graduating from high school. Now, I am pursuing the life of a medical doctor.
My attitudinal change evolved when I worked with my adopted family for our community work. They were telling me about what they were doing to remedy their sickness, including their medical experiences for the last few months. They talked to me about people who tried to dupe them into buying expensive food supplements and about the drug they are keeping as an emergency pill that was not related to the ailments that they have.
Broken Smile
I planned to make my visit short, record their vital signs, and verify some information I had taken months before. However, my visit went on for an hour, where I mostly debunked their misconceptions and answered their questions to the extent of my knowledge. I admit I was thankful that their questions were not too technical. Still, I loved exchanging ideas with them, seeing their interested and satisfied faces, and the total exercise of the event before my eyes.
It culminated when I noticed the firstborn in the family looking eagerly at my nameplate, stethoscope, and notes. His face was severe, and I felt like he was to say something. Before I left, I asked him if he, too, wanted to be a doctor someday. He smiled and answered yes.
His parents quickly told him that they may be unable to afford medical education or that now is not the time to decide. I dispelled their fears by telling them how many doctors the Philippines needs and that there is still hope for free medical education someday. They both looked at their son and agreed.
I can’t believe that scenario would inspire me. I realized that man functions to follow his need to be happy. He wants to satisfy the longing in his heart that would ultimately make his heart smile.
Trigger-Happy Obsession
We are often obsessed with the difference between joy and happiness. Usually, joy is something that dwells in our hearts and may persist no matter what the circumstance is. Happiness is the feeling that we feel due to something that happened. I agree that the preceding definitions are correct.
However, the dictionary would tell a different story. For Merriam-Webster, joy is “the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires,” and happiness is “a state of well-being and contentment.” By the looks of it, they seem to be similar. We have joy in our hearts, but we still try to seek happiness, which is never wrong.
Happily Blessed
Religions and self-help programs would guide people to achieve happiness. Because of its English etymology (using blood to consecrate something), we associate the word “blessed” with the act of making something holy. We forget that in the religious context, it also means someone is happy.
The most famous sermon of Jesus Christ is His Beatitudes, which are beautiful in meaning and structure. We call it beatitudes because it has sentences that start with the word beati, which means “happiness or blessedness.” This sermon sums up some of the values He taught and says that the person who follows them will be happy.
To make yourself happy is not even contradicting to a Christian. The fact that believers live their lives to give God happiness is reason enough to say that pursuing happiness is a holy act if done correctly. Believers disregard that God’s happiness would result in their happiness.
As long as we do not hurt others, we can chase anything that would make us happy. I think I have a newfound outlook and will now try to seek my happiness.
Oh, the things the medical school does to you.
