Hap & Happiness

Stephen Anderson meditates on misfortune and meaning.

- Stephen Anderson

Ah, happiness… Where is she to be found? Doesn’t it almost seem, these days, as if the more we have the less happy we are? We are richer, smarter, have more leisure time and more elaborate entertainments than in any period in history on any place on Earth. And though not yet universal, such advantages are more widely distributed than ever before. We’re all doing better… and feeling worse, it seems. Consider when you last went unclothed, unhoused, or without a meal; or how easily you secured medical, dental or psychological services when last you needed them. Put your hand in your pocket, and chances are you find a device capable of communicating anywhere around the world, providing innumerable entertainments and distractions at a moment’s notice, or securing vast quantities of consumer goods to fulfill any desire. And yet, are we modern people actually happier than our forebears of previous ages?

It would seem not. That we are materially better off, circumstantially more blessed, there can be no doubt: but if anything, we are more anxious, more unsatisfied, and more emotionally at-sea than we ever were, are we not?

We’re promised the right to pursue happiness. And yet we might well wonder what sort of perverted trick is this, that the opportunity for bliss is dangled before our eyes, then somehow snatched away by our circumstances! What a betrayal. Somebody needs to answer for that, surely.

But before we declare that the universe is against us and start grinding our teeth at men or at God, perhaps we should take a more thoughtful look at our expectations.

Happiness Stolen By Fate