Our happiness must come from within, never from outside of us

In his book “The Christian Vision,” author John Powell makes this observation: “One of the most persistent and widely believed delusions is that one person can make another happy. … The fact is that no one can make me happy; nor can I make someone else happy. We each have to do that for ourselves.”

People often think that if they have a good relationship or enter a marriage with the right person, that special someone will bring them happiness. Wrong! No one else can make us happy.

“The pursuit of happiness,” as the Declaration of Independents phrased it, is the task of each individual.

Two people in a relationship can share their dreams, hopes and successes but each person is responsible for their own happiness. The inner peace and happiness that we all seek are available to everyone. We just have to look in the right places.

For example, many people believe riches will bring them happiness. Riches are commodities outside us. They are not part of our inner core. Look how many rich people are miserable. Jesus tells us, “What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?” (Luke 9:25)

To be happy we have to accept ourselves for who we are and celebrate the person God has made us to be. To be happy we have to accept life the way it is, the good and the bad, knowing that sometimes an illness, a cancer, a rejection can put us in touch with gifts and graces we did not know were available to us.

To be happy means taking time to be with the people we love while never neglecting those in need. To be happy we have to know when to let go and let God, when to take responsibility for our own lives and to give up the temptation for power and the desire to control others.

To be happy means we have to find our mission in life (what God wants us to do here on earth) and simultaneously be willing to give of ourselves so that we can find ourselves. To be happy we have to learn to share our gifts and resources with others, so we can make this a better world. Jesus told us, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

To be happy we have to be part of a loving community that experiences the power and presence of God wherever two or three are gathered together in Jesus’ name. To be happy means we know that everything has its price. Jesus told us that if we want to achieve inner peace, we must be willing to take up our cross daily and following him.

To be happy we must constantly spend time alone reflecting on our lives because as Socrates once said, “An unreflected life in not worth living.” We must also be willing to reflect upon the gospels so we can change our values and become more Godlike. Our goal in life is to see ourselves as God sees us.

To be happy we have to put God first in everything we do and seek the guidance of the Spirit in making important decisions. It means believing that all life is sacred and that every human being is made after the image and likeness of God.

We must always make our life decisions from the inside out not from the outside in. Remember, it is “the pursuit of happiness” that is our God-given right. The journey is way we find happiness. We may never achieve total happiness in this life but we can be assured that no one else or nothing else can make us happy. Our happiness depends on us.