The Purpose of Life: To Find Happiness?

Wait a minute.

Isn't pursuing my own happiness kind of selfish? 

Maybe not. I believe friends and family, and even total strangers, would all benefit by my being happier.

In life, we can pursue happiness. Does saying that or typing that inch me closer toward Happiness? It's hard for me to not think of this goal as being oversimplified. It’s a daunting task, to "Become "Happy," I think because we all get stuck on the idea that happiness is something that we're looking for in someone else instead of something we have power over. That's like some kind of victim mentality: "Oh, I wonder if someone or something will cause me to be happy today? Forget it. I'll eat an entire pan of brownies instead, or check on what my friends are doing on Facebook instead of dealing with my real life." That may be a bit harsh, but believe me when I tell you that I'm aiming also at myself. What I really should do instead of eating all the brownies in one sitting is figure out why I am unhappy and what I can do about it. Always focus on what you can do. I learned that while working on a Special Education Endorsement in Ferris State University's School of Education.We all want to be happy, and we're all travelling down similar and convergent paths toward figuring out what that means to us individually, but the thing we have in common is that all of us keep looking for it in the wrong places.. 

The Dalai Lama's definition of Happiness is quite different from how Westerners tend to look at it. For example, that we can find happiness by helping others find their happiness. 

Furthermore, that we can find Happiness if we learn to appreciate the tough times in our lives. There's the hard one, the contradictory one, right there. Be grateful for my trials for what they have taught me? It’s quite a mental stretch, but I always have enjoyed a good mind stretching. Take today, for instance. I am in a lot of pain, but I still feel relatively content, if not happy. I'm hoping that I've learned something from reading this book, but only time and experience will tell. 

And so I spend a total of five hours a week over at Community Mental Health chatting with the people there, dealing with flashbacks and learning coping skills by attending individual counseling, group counseling, a support group, and regular visits to a psychiatrist. I guess the military will never accept me, but I'm not very sad about that. Nor am I (very much) afraid to admit that I have these issues. I didn't want PTSD, but I've got it, so I need to beat it. I didn't cause this problem and have no intention of keeping it tucked up in my brain forever. Its days are numbered! I can take this unhappy condition and somehow turn it around to use it for good. If nothing else, maybe sometime I'll find someone with the same condition who could really use some help. I wouldn't hesitate to give them my best. We have an unhappy society, really: one where people are ashamed to admit that they are anything less than perfect, where the word "crazy" is frequently bandied about with a negative connotation. I suspect we would all be happier even if all we did was stop judging other people's life choices long enough to take care of our own lives. 

 The Dalai Lama contends that we have a right to happiness and that happiness can be found within. 

Mindless platitude? Sure, but only because it's true, right? Kicking at the hand life deals us wastes a hell of a lot of time that we could be spending to do things to improve ourselves, or to improve life for others.The nature of PTSD symptoms are such that there are times when I think psychology is more guesswork even than brain surgery - The human mind, literally or figuratively, is complex, but we're going to go back in there and see what we can see. I know Happiness is hiding in one of those rooms up there somewhere, maybe tucked under a bed, or in a closet.