There's a very catchy new tune out at the moment. It's called 'Love etc.' and it's by the Pet Shop Boys. I can't say I'm a particular PSB fan, but in this case I can't stop tapping my toes to it, and the lyrics... well, they're almost spot on perfect for these difficult times we're all living in.

What is happiness? How is it achieved?

Taking a cue from an article I have been reading, I have been thinking about happiness and how people aspire to and achieve it in the world today.

Where is happiness found? Are people missing a few ‘tricks’ in their quests for happiness?

It seems to me, based on what I have observed in those around me and confirmed in the article that prompted these thoughts, that people will do a lot to achieve happiness - perhaps more than they need to and often the wrong things altogether. 

Some people consider that having the perfect body (a pernicious concept, in my opinion) will make them happy and they’ll move mountains to carry out this wish. They’ll sacrifice hours each day sweating away at a gym, pounding the streets in sweatshirt and trainers or wasting away on a punishing diet of little more than air and dust. And perhaps they’ll be satisfied when they get to their goal, but they will still have to work hard maintaining their body image. 

Other people think they will find happiness in money and they become driven and addicted to working every last available second of the day towards fulfilling that dream, often without ever achieving it and very often at the considerable expense of others.

I wonder though, have any of these people considered that happiness is an emotion and not a commodity? It cannot be reliably gained in things that can be seen. It can, however, be easily gained in things that can be felt. And that is where the heart comes in.

Wouldn’t it be wiser for a person to examine what sort of happiness it is that they’re seeking? The perfect body does not last forever. Money does not buy love (although it might be able to buy a superficial facsimile of it which, again, will only be transient).

Happiness - true happiness - does not exist in isolation. I cannot achieve happiness thinking only of me. I am a social creature - just like most other people - and, when it comes down to it, I achieve happiness in how I interact with people. The person who is obsessed with their appearance does so because they believe it makes them more acceptable to other people: they believe that if they can only be just this much prettier or just that much more ‘toned’ then they’ll have people falling at their feet. But the prettiest person in the world still needs an attractive personality. The richest person in the world might be able to ‘purchase’ hangers-on but what happens when the money runs out? 

Look inside yourself and ask yourself how much time you spend being good rather than chasing a material goal. Could you achieve a greater and more fulfilling happiness in being a ‘better person’?  

Christ gave us the most amazing commandment: to love God and to love one another as we would be loved. Loving God gives us the strength and the reason to love one another. In spending time in prayer we gradually begin to appreciate the world and our lives in new ways. New meanings become apparent and old ambitions fall away. No longer is it necessary to be rich or beautiful. Instead it becomes more apparent that greater satisfaction and ‘inner peace’ comes from the ways we talk to others. It’s not an exaggeration to state that, in my experience, the more focused I am on prayer and contemplation of God, the more I find that I value other people and from that my perception is that they value me more as well. The one is driven by the other. And this happiness doesn’t decline with age or dwindling bank balances because it’s rooted in something not of the material world... and that something is wonderful, mighty, eternal, peaceful and loving. I’m sure you know His name by now...

I was looking at my faithful pooch (that’s her in the picture) this afternoon and a question struck me that caused me some sadness...

How is it that so many are so capable of showing such kindness and tenderness to their pet animals and yet so capable of being mean to their fellows? Not all people, by any means, but history is replete with examples of the goriest of characters who were reputedly kind to small animals and pets.

We are made to love. Our deepest desire is to love and to be loved. Our emotional security comes far more from a loving relationship with our family and our friends - people who we know we can rely on - than on simple material possessions. I have heard people say they would happily live in a cave if it meant they would be with their beloved rather than be separated but in material comfort. So how come some people seem only capable of demonstrating their capability for loving in doing so for an animal? 

Isn’t love meant for sharing? Isn’t tenderness something that every person deserves? Isn’t it nourishing and sustaining? Could those people who derive emotional satisfaction from loving an animal not try to demonstrate that tenderness for other human beings as well? It costs nothing, and we’d all gain so much.