Happiness:
noun | hap-pi-ness | \ˈha-pē-nəs\
a state of well-being and contentment; a pleasurable or satisfying experience. (www.merriam-webster.com)
Synonyms:
bliss; gladness; joy; warm fuzzies
Seems like an ideal place to be, right? Seems like Hershey's has given us food to find happiness. The famous Glad commercials encourage to stay away from mad and "get glad." Who knows, maybe even some fuzzy socks will bring you to your "happy place."
The other day, I was watching my favorite Netflix series (probably because it's the only one I've had time to watch), "One Tree Hill." It was Season 8, Episode 13 titled "The Other Half of Me." For those of you who don't know or watch "OTH," it's the episode where Brooke finally marries Julian. (Sorry, spoiler alert.) In the previous episode, Brooke and James Lucas Scott nearly drown when Brooke tries to save poor little Jimmy-Jam from a car accident when another car hit them into a river.
This all happens because Brooke and Julian get into a colossal fight causing Brooke to leave in the middle of an epic storm. Obviously, Brooke and Jamie are both saved (what would the show be without those two?!), and Brooke and Julian are able to kiss and make up. Brooke expresses to Julian how she just wants to make Julian happy by giving him the family he wants. Brooke is unable to carry her own children which crushes her a season or two prior the wedding.
Being the insanely perfect individual Julian is, he caresses Brooke into his arms and has this deep (and very intellectual) conversation with Brooke about what it really means to be "happy." We can, of course, Google a definition for happy and see that happiness is a related word. We can hope that once we get that job offer that we'll finally be happy. Or meeting that boy, or getting that grade, or whatever else we think will push us into the "happiness" state of mind. But that is where we are so wrong.
Happiness isn't a place. There is no right or wrong path to get you there. You can't just follow the yellow brick road. We objectify an emotion. We expect this feeling to be a place and when we go there everything is going to be okay. But here's a rude awakening, that's not the case.
You are in charge of your happiness. There is no magic cure to sadness, no perfect saying, no right answer. Find yourself. Do what makes you happy. Go skydiving. Visit an exotic place. Study abroad. Do whatever it is that you think is going to make you happy. Stop looking for that place, that person, that thing that is going to send you over the moon because it's not.
I find my joy and delight in the Lord -- where do you find yours?
