The process of happiness Part 1

BS’D

Today’s daily dose is dedicated to the refuah shleimah of Nasan Karpel ben Devorah Basha, a baby who has heart and lung problems.  May he be completely healed amongst all of those sick and suffering in Klal Yisrael b’karov, b’rachamim, Amen!

There is another opening to join our Shabbat tehillim group.  The perakim are עג’-עט’/73-79 inclusive.   Please let me know if you wish to read these perakim every Shabbat (anytime from candle lighting until motzei Shabbat) for the zechut of Klal Yisrael.  Tizku’ l’mitzvot.

Being that we have been discussing the slight downfall that may occur after the High Holidays, it is relevant to speak of the importance of happiness.  How do we attain true joy and keep it?

I read a beautiful saying: “Happiness is the process of bringing life to the point of understanding why what happened, happened.” This certainly contains within it a strong point of truth which includes accepting what happened to us as being necessary or at least relevant and beneficial to our future.  This incorporates with it a feeling of fulfillment in life; sensing wholeness within ourselves.  It is a clear definition of the purpose of living.

Achieving sincere happiness requires an unfolding process which happens in time.  It takes time to discover what it is that really makes us happy.  Throughout the stages of life, it becomes clearer to us that happiness is closely linked to the greatness of our soul.

In fact, the pursuit of happiness affects every aspect of our lives on every level of our being.  It impresses on our emotions, relationships and on all of our life’s decisions.  The world is obsessed with the attainment of true lasting contentment.  There are endless surveys, statistics and experiments to measure happiness comparing one to another.  The conclusions of these reports are clear:  money and power are not connected to the essence of joy.

So where and what is this coveted thing called happiness?  Is it simply the absence of depression?  Or maybe a matter of being satisfied?  The definition must be crystal clear in order for us to use every moment of our limited time here in this world to conquer it.  Why spend a life of delusion chasing what we think will bring us happiness?  Even more so, how can we protect ourselves from giving up on our hunt for real happiness?

It is our obligation to answer these questions and figure out how to embark on this journey and remain focused on the goal: a life of unshakable happiness in spite of shaky occurrences.