Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Secrets to Happiness


When it comes to happiness, there are three things to know: First, everyone wants it; second, few people ever find it; and, third, most people have no clue where to look. So, here's one of many secrets to happiness that may help you.

Know why you showed up. A great disservice done to people in our culture, and in the Christian church, is to create in them the illusory expectation that there is some grand and cosmic purpose to their lives. This is further complicated by the culture's insistence that they must, first, figure out what it is, which most people never do, and, second, fulfill it, which most would be happy to do if they could just figure out what it is.

Now, it's not just in Christianity that this erroneous notion is perpetrated. It's in Buddhism, too, as well as other eastern religions. In Buddhism, for example, it's called dharma, which is a Sanskrit word meaning "purpose." Buddhists believe, just as most Christians believe, that one's primary task in life is to find and fulfill the universe's plans, or as Christians would say, God's will for your life.

Now, here's how this madness works. In the Christian church, it is referred to as the "call" to that of ministerial service. "Have you had the call?" is the insane question often asked of youth.

There was one young man who went to graduate school, a well-known seminary to prepare for the ministry. Because he had not declared on his application that he had a clear sense of "call" into the ministry, the Dean notified him after a semester or two that he was being expelled from the seminary. Now, had they known this young man, and not been bound by that madness, they would have known that this young man had never been clear as to what he wanted to do his entire life. It takes most people four to five years to graduate college. It took him, however, nearly twice that long, not because he went part-time or dropped out a semester here and there, but because he changed his major a half dozen times in those ten years.

After being expelled, he enrolled in law school and practiced law until just a few years ago. Not surprisingly, he grew bored with his law practice, in spite of the fact he built it into one of the most notable firms in his hometown. So, he sold out his portion of the partnership and today he's selling cars. He's been as restless through life, just as many other people are, because he's been raised in a culture that perpetrates a madness known as one's "calling" in life. The unfortunate consequence is that most people go through life never figuring out what this "calling" is or what they showed up to do. It's a heavy and burdensome way to live and it sucks the happiness right out of life.

When you read a story like this, does it make you wonder what that young man might have done for his faith and for humanity had that foolish dean not made the gross error in judgment that he did? Further, does it make you wonder what might have happened had the dean encouraged him to pursue what was really calling him-and that was the God-instilled desire to serve, to help humanity, and to make a social and lasting difference in this world?

"So," you ask, "what then is my purpose in life? Why did I show up?" You showed up for one reason-to know and to walk with God. That's it. Now, when you know the following: that you are of infinite worth to this Creator; that you were born to share intimacy with the Intelligence that is God; that, if there's any purpose to life it has less to do with doing and more to do with being; that you can live and serve in life in whatever capacity you so desire; and, at one-and-the-same time, experience infinite bliss and happiness, not because you've figured out what you're supposed to do but, instead, because you are simply giving yourself away in the service of humanity, then you will know happiness--an infinite happiness. How could you not?

This is the secret. What more could you ever want than to know the joy of God's ineffable Presence? That kind of relationship transforms everything. So, you were born to walk with God - that is your purpose. Only one question remains: Why would you walk alone, no matter what you do?




I've put up an entire post on my blog about this (and written a whole book about this and other matters related to the spiritual life), and I'd love to share some of the things I've learned with you. To get started, visit my blog at http://www.stevemcswain.com/blog.




1 comment:

  1. You are complete as you are and worthy of happiness - in order to be in the moment and enjoy life as it exists now, we must let go of the feelings or beliefs that disempower you. Let go of the past disappointments, failures, or bad relationships. You are complete as you are right now.

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