HOW TO BE HAPPY
03 July 2008

We all think about how we can be happier and what constitutes a good life, right? It is certainly a topic that has kept the philosophers busy. Let’s look at what the great thinkers over time have written on how to be happy.

Pleasure

Some say that what makes people happy is subjective and differ from person to person. Life has no objective meaning in itself. You have to figure out what makes you happy and you have the freedom to live your life in a way that pleases you.

The writer of Ecclesiastes sums it up well in saying that there is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his work (Ecc 2:24).

You will encounter situations where the world around you and your desires do not match. This can be overcome by optimising your world to serve your purposes (a very popular approach in the West today); or by accepting that you can not control the hostile world and should rather reduce your wants, desires and wishes so that they can be fulfilled (more popular in the East).

Ironically, this hedonistic philosophy that set out to promote the pursuit of pleasure ended up by advocating the end of all pursuits. So many students committed suicide after hearing Hegesias’ lectures at Alexandria, that King Ptolemy stopped him from teaching. Hegesias taught that the purpose of life is the end of all suffering and sorrow and that death is a happy, pain-free alternative to life.

Self-actualisation

The classic humanistic view is that you should develop your innate potential, your ‘self’. Abraham Maslow developed a generalised hierarchy of people’s needs, starting with the most basic and ending with self-actualisation. It is important to realise, however, that the things we can potentially excel in differ from person to person, which also means that what is a happy life will not be the same for all of us.

Some suggest that you should develop your potential by focusing on the one or two things that you have talent for (as illustrated in the 80/20 principle), while others prefer to focus on a wide range of skills to become a ‘complete’ person.

A radical Christian humanistic view that focuses not only on one or two aspects, but on actualisation of the entire person, is the ‘imitation of Christ’. The aim is an objective view of the good life: being Christlike.

Fellowship

This model states that it is only in and through relationships that we can be fully human – being human is being in relation. The idea that a solitary person is an incomplete human being can already be found with the ancient Greeks. It was taught that Zeus divided people into two parts and since then every person is incomplete and goes through life passionately seeking to be reunited with his or her other half.

In Christianity the goal of life is often seen as communion with God and other believers. Augustine wrote: ‘our hearts are restless until they rest in You.’ The New Testament teaches that all the members of the church, each with his or her unique talents, together form the body of Christ on earth.

Conclusion

In developing a life strategy for a happy or good life, we can take something from all of these approaches. We do have some basic needs that have to be met, we do have potential that must be developed in order to feel good about ourselves, we do need good relationships with God and a few like-minded people.

Let’s get one thing clear, however. We have to accept that complete happiness or perfection is just not going to happen in this life. No matter how many inspirational self-help books you read on how to be thinner, more successful, love God more, or how many hours you spend in prayer, there is a limit on what the natural man can achieve and endless constraining factors outside of your control. Accept it. You will never be perfect or perfectly content in this life.


Reference: Sarot M & Stoker W, (Editors) 2004. Religion and the good life. Assen: Royal Van Gorcum.


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