Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Those great words have been used to justify almost every area of America’s fantastical social experiment, modern democracy. But what do they mean, these notions of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness?
Well, we believe all men have the right to live. We believe all men have the right to be free, to have liberty. We believe all men should be able to pursue happiness. Right?
Cadillac’s newest commercials end with the phrase “and the Pursuit”. We assume that’s the pursuit of happiness. So will owning a Cadillac make us happy? You’ll note that in the original Declaration of Independence “pursuit” is not capitalized, but Happiness is. It’s not the pursuit, but rather the Happiness that’s central to our discussion today.
And here enters our current confusion about Happiness. We’re becoming a nation of people who wish to own as much as is possible, to consume as much as possible, we are in a constant pursuit. You know; “the man who dies with the most toys wins.”
I often hear we have become a country of the “Haves” and the “Have Nots“. There is simply no denying there is a monumental difference between $5.75 an hour and $5.75 million a year. But we fail to see that sometimes people from both ends of that spectrum can be just as happy or just as miserable. Why is that?
There’s another category of even greater value where, if we’re really honest, most of us could rest comfortably if we had the willpower to try. I call this group the “Have Enoughs“.
Do we have enough? Part of the answer lies in meeting our basic needs, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and part of it lies in learning to be satisfied, the Declaration of Independence. Practically speaking, paying your bills won’t necessarily make you happy but not being able to pay your bills causes serious problems for the most stalwart.
I think our American Ancestors were hoping that their descendants, that’s us, would be able to pursue happiness until we were satisfied. If we can’t find satisfaction and we drive ourselves crazy trying to quench an insatiable desire, that’s subjecting ourselves a much more subtle form of tyranny. King George’s taxes on one hand, the pursuit of ”more” on the other.
Our ancestors wanted us to know what satisfaction was, regardless of the level of our wealth. The challenge for today is to understand that we’ll never have enough until we are satisfied with something. It won’t make one bit of difference whether you’re a “Have” or a “Have Not” until you’ve known satisfaction and been content therein.
We need to stop pursuing happiness and enjoy happiness. If we can be at peace with our lives we can ”have enough”.
The Authors of the Declaration of Independence knew this would be our greatest inheritance. Being alive, being free and being happy are co-dependents. If we are able to find just one of them, we’ll find the others right alongside.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
2 Comments
November 19, 2007 at 6:01 pm
Nice work Fred! It’s not enough to take these truths as self-evident. We have to think about them. More isn’t always better. Consuming isn’t always patriotic. Happiness isn’t usually about having more than one needs. Couldn’t agree more.
November 21, 2007 at 3:32 am
We all need to learn to be content with what we have. The Bible says in Phil 4:11b-13 (HCSB): “… for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.
12 I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret [of being content] —whether well-fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need.
13 I am able to do all things through Him (Jesus) who strengthens me.”