“Whether happiness may come or not, one should try and prepare one’s self to do without it.” –George Eliot
It is only natural to want to be happy, but we must be realistic about life. If our notion of happiness is a problem free life with lots of fun, we are certain to be disappointed. Nobody gets through life without experiencing at least some tragedy and heartache, and most of us will experience a lot more problems along life’s journey than we could possibly have imagined during the innocence of childhood. Life is difficult, and none of us live fairy tale lives, at least not throughout life’s entire journey.
On the other hand, none of us need to be miserable throughout life no matter how bad our circumstances. As we travel through life, there will be times of great celebration and times of terrible grief, but most of the journey will fall somewhere in between these two extremes. During these ordinary times of life, most of us can find contentment.
We will all experience the loss of loved ones during our lifetime and, for most of us, that is the hardest thing to deal with. Yet, deal with it we must, because we don’t really have a choice. Rose Kennedy, who had more than her share of grief from the loss of loved ones, said, “I don’t believe God gives us more burdens to bear than we can handle.” Many will disagree with that statement, but most people do survive the loss of loved ones and eventually manage to get on with their lives after an appropriate time of grieving.
However, some people take the position that they cannot and will not ever be happy again after the loss of someone very close to them. It is natural to feel that way at first, but after a reasonable period of grieving most people begin to see that they can find happiness again if they work toward that goal. Life is for the living, and most people have more than one person who looks to them for comforting and companionship. For example, the loss of a spouse is devastating, but if there are children and grandchildren, these family members need the surviving spouse more than ever after a death in the family.
We can’t base our happiness on having things go smoothly all the time. We have to learn to take life as it comes and still try to find contentment as much of the time as possible. It is tragic that some people seem to believe they can’t be happy until, and unless, they have no major problems in life. Such people will probably never find happiness, because there are few times in life that we don’t have problems. Doesn’t it make more sense to resolve to find contentment as much of the time as possible, no matter what life throws at us?
Think about it.
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Copyright 2024
Allen W. Smith
