The impossibility of the pursuit of happiness

Ahab was in pursuit of the white whale.  Javert was in pursuit of Jean Valjean.

What does it mean to be in pursuit of happiness?

The older I get, the more I think that the phrase "pursuit of happiness" is screwed up.  Why did the white, rich, slave-holding founders of the United States refer to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?  Instead, why didn't they go for a full fledged alliteration, for instance, of life, liberty, and love?

One cannot pursue happiness.  It comes from within.

We ought to enjoy the very limited time that we have.  But, we should also recognize that the external pleasure that we seek and enjoy, which we often falsely equate to the happiness that we are pursuing, is fleeting. Momentary.

The Buddha made that simple for us to understand through his Noble Truths.  The point of departure is the truth that "life is suffering and to live is to suffer."  Of course, as humans we share a desire "to be free from suffering."  However, the humans that we are, we not only do not want to acknowledge this, we even actively engage in denial.  We refer to our inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness.

The pleasure and happiness that we seek are often wrong goals.

Happiness arises and ceases based on external conditions that are often beyond my control. What I was really seeking was equanimity, a calm and resilient state that is beyond happiness, and that emerges from internal conditions that are often within my control.

From internal conditions, within my control.  Within you.  It does not come from the number of likes in Facebook or the number of retweets in Twitter, nor from psychedelic drugs, nor from traveling to exotic places ...

One cannot pursue happiness.  It comes from within.

From within, and in the here and in the now, means "to spend time living meaningfully and sharing life experiences with the people we love."

The single most important factor for human flourishing is the cultivation of loving and enduring relationships. The depth and quality of our loving relationships determines how we feel about our lives.

Whether we love or hate, at some time or another, life comes to an end.  Inevitable, as humans have always known.  If at all, we are then in pursuit of death, from the moment that we are born!  The challenge in life is to find that inner happiness when we pursue the end.

May you find happiness and contentment, without pursuing the metaphorical white whale.

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