I came across the following quote on a Facebook post this morning…
“I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be honorable, to be compassionate. It is, above all, to matter, to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you have lived at all.” ~ Leo Rosten
I hesitated…but left the comment…But I have to believe that if you do all of that…you will be happy…
Honestly…I think the pursuit of happiness has been given a bad rap…due to a group of misguided individuals who believe happiness is decadently selfish…these individuals do a lot of things…in the name of…being happy…whether it is spending money…eating…drinking…and the list could go on and on…
And…perhaps they are happy…but…for me…those things don’t work…and I won’t get into which ones I tried…and which ones I didn’t…but…I do have my own list…
Bertha…emphasized this to me in the story…Ant Bed…from…Bertha-Size Your Life!…she took me through a series of questions…about feeling good…and the conclusion was…that being responsible…doing my job…actually felt better than skipping work and going to the beach…who knew that was possible…
Today…I find that my true happiness doesn’t come from buying a new outfit…although I still enjoy nice clothes…eating a piece of cheese cake…although I still relish one from time to time…it comes from having raised beautiful, successful daughters…from seeing my grandchildren grow and change from visit to visit…from a friend’s smile…from writing something that makes a difference to someone…from metaphorically kissing the boo-boos of my kids at school…
While it may seem that I am in total agreement with…Leo Rosten…I’m not quite…perhaps it is the chicken and the egg discussion revisited…
I believe that happiness is the purpose of life…and doing things in a spiritual way…in a responsible way…is the only way I can truly be happy…
Jane
What a thoughtful post. I remember the chapter of your book that you refer to; it resonated with me. I agree that life is about happiness and our journey – positive attitudes regardless of what life throws at us.
Thank you, Christy. I find that I am the happiest when I am engaged in activites that make life better for those around me. I like your statement…positive attitudes regardless of what life throws at us…that is so true!