Hello Everyone!
My mother is doing well. She still can neither lay down nor sit up. She has to be in between. I can understand how she feels on account that I can't stand laying in bed just for one day when I am ill. Again thank you for all the kind notes.
I chose the topic "pursuit of Happiness" The reason being is in my mother's condition she is truly happy. What is happiness? I first looked in the dictionary; Happy;Enjoying contentment and well-being; Glad, joyous, satisfaciton or pleased. Happiness;noun. Here it says that happiness is a noun. Going back to what I learned in Elementary I know a noun to be a person, place or thing. This to me at first would not b\describe happiness. To me happiness is a verb a feeling. So out of that defenition I took joy. Joy;A strong feeling of great happiness;Delight;A state or source of contentment or satisfaction;anything which makes on delighted or happy. By this I am beginning to understand happiness.
Happiness, then, is something that is maintained by our actions, thoughts, and choices. It is without a doubt beyond our control of our trials and blessings. However we are in control of our faculties and how we choose to react to each and every situation. So is true happiness or contentment a goal that one might pursue? I would have to say so.
I then turned to the dictionary again to find that pursuit means: The act of pursuing an occupation. In here it states that if one pursues happiness, happiness is then an occupation. This to me means that it is something that we have to consistently work on to improve day bay day from sun up to sun down.
In an excerpt of Arisotle's Ethiics he explores how the pursuit of happiness is a search for the virtuous life. "For to none of human works does stability attach so much as it does to the excercises in the way of virtue, since these are held to be more abiding even than the sciences; and of these excercises the most the most abiding, because the happy perform them most, and most continuously, which seems to be the reason why they are not forgotten. So then is the stability which is sought will be in the happy man, and he will be such through life, since always, or most of all, he will be doing and contemplating the things which are in the way of virtue; and the various chances fo life he will bear most nobly, and at all times and in all ways harmoniously, since he is the truly good man, and in the terms of our proverb "A faultless cube."
And whereas the incidents of chance are many, and differ in greatness and smallness, the small peices of good or ill fortune evidently do not affect the balance of life, but the great and numerous, if happening for good, will make life more blessed, but if for ill, they bruise as it were and maim the blessedness; for they bring in positive pain, and hinder many exercises of faculty. But still, even in there, nobleness shines through when a man bears contentedly many and great mischances, not from insensibility to pain, but because he is noble and high spirited.
And if, as we have said, the exercises of faculty are what determine the character of the life, no one of the happy can ever become wretched, because he will never do those things which are hateful and mean. For the man who is truly good and sensible bears all fortunes, we presume, becomingly, and always does what is noblest under the circumstances."
I would say that in our pursuit of happiness we would then, at all times, maintain a standard of living set forth by our own choices. Not to take away from a great man such as Aristotle, but I then turned to the scriptures.
Happiness, as is says in the topical guide gives these suggestions. Happy, abundant life, blessed, cheerfulness, family, love within, glad, gladness, joy, merry, pleased, pleasure.
Some key words I discovered were family and love within. Does this now say that we must love ourselves before we can be happy? I would agree. Before we can truly love others and be happy we must love ourselves. Appreciate who we are and what place we have in this world. I then pondered on family. Must we have a family in order to have happiness? In a world of today with the high rate of separations and divorces, can we then attain happiness? Yes, however I believe that those who grow up with a single parent, no parent, or what have you, struggle more with finding true happiness with thierselves. So what must we do to find true happiness?
"'What is the price of happiness?' One might be surprised at the simplicity of the answer. The treasure house of happiness is unlocked to those who live the gospel or Jesus Christ in its purity and simplicity. Like a mariner without stars, like a traveler without a compass, is the person who moves along through life without a plan. The assurance of supreme happiness, the certainty of a successful life here and of exaltation and eternal life hereafter, come to those who plan to live their lives in complete harmony with the gospel of Jesus Christ -- and then consistently follow the course they have set" (Spencer W. Kimball,_The miracle of Forgiveness_,p. 259)
It makes no sense to me then, to fill one's life with numerous "gifts and rewards" that we cannot take with us when we leave this earth or existence. Society puts too much emphasis on having the biggest house and the fastest car. When all we do is leave it for others to fight over when we are gone. Do not misunderstand me to say that we need to be poor and throw our money to the wind. Money can do a great deal for those who do not have it. It can buy their next meal or even pay for a new pair of socks. "But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God. And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good-to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and am\dminister relief to the sick and afflicted. Jacob 2:18-19
So can we find happiness in ourselves, in our family, in our profession, and in our life? It is up to us as individuals. We have to decide if what we are seeking in life will bring us true joy and contentment.
I would like to change the subject and thank my father-in-law Roice Nelson for creating a site where these emails will be posted for future reference. I would have to agree with him when he states how important the written word can be, and about how there is a concern of how easy it is to drift and forget our roots and our potential among all the distractions of daily life.
You can download or read any of these thoughts at http://www.walden3d.com/nate I feel strongly about keeping in touch and expressing our thoughts, ideas and interests. Please let me know how things are going on your end. If there is anything that you would like to post for everyone to read you can do that as well. God bless.
Best Regards,
Nathan Pace
Send comments to Nathan W. Pace.