Happiness

I recently read a pop psychology piece which very confidently listed the fourteen reasons why miserable people are unhappy. I was amazed to find there were actually fourteen. In my experience, it usually takes just a couple of horrific factors to make someone miserable. I felt like Moses, being handed the tablets. 

Seriously, I was amused to see yet another pop psychologist making a speaking-engagement career with secrets of human happiness. It seems to be cycling back around. The early 1970's, the mid 1980's and now the 21st century ...history repeating itself.

My experience tells me that there is no such thing as static "human happiness". My dedication to the concept of personal practice relates to this. I strongly believe that happiness is a thread which runs through the human consciousness along with misery and other conscious states. Personal practice, as I see it, is partially an attempt to hold onto that thread while weaving my life from the decisions and accidents of each moment. 

The Guru of 14 Points of Misery seemed to see happiness as a Valhalla, a mountain top, of serenity. The causes of misery were apparently all fixable. Snap! Check each off the list as they are expunged. One of them, financial insecurity, might get someone stuck for a lifetime in a capitalist society where the accidents of birth largely determine financial success. However, the Guru of 14 Points of Misery didn't seem to get this. I assume she was lucky in that department. 

I have witnessed well over 1,000 human deaths as a nurse and as a son. None of those I saw dying were observably "happy". Some were serene. Some were tortured. Most were simply heavily medicated. I do not think happiness exists as a static state for any living being, which is born, ages and dies inevitably. Happiness is momentary, situation-dependent and intentional as we age. The fortunate find the thread of happiness in the weave of life and hold onto it as best they can. This is an element of a personal practice for peace and well being.