What makes you happy? Are some people just naturally happy, or is it something you have to work at? Finding fulfillment and pleasure is a process that should never end. Being happy is the ability to appreciate small and simple things. A person needs to be curious and willing to try new things and experience setbacks as well as new experiences. Psalm 28:7 reminds us that, “The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.” “Happiness incorporates curiosity, and the ability to tolerate risk and anxiety to discover new passions and facets of identity. It involves a balance between momentary pleasure and longer-term striving toward goals. It is abetted by friends and family who can both celebrate accomplishments and provide support after failures. Happiness includes the ability to acknowledge and embrace every emotion, even the unpleasant ones. It involves seeing the big picture, rather than getting stuck in the details. Overall, being happy is to live with mindfulness, meaning, and purpose.” (Writer, n.d.) Proverbs 13:20 declares, “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” Most people consider the current moment to determine if they are happy and fail to think about their surroundings, their current circumstances, and their overall life. Many people go through life never considering their personal feelings and their well-being, being only concerned with their present feelings. Each person has their perception of happiness and many may be confused by their emotions and mistaken as to their true feelings.
How can you tell if you are truly happy and not allowing others to persuade your emotions to fit their agenda? “Real happiness brings inner peace. When we are sincerely happy, we are at peace with the world and with ourselves. False happiness will be accompanied by insecurities, doubts, and worries. We think our happiness could easily be spoilt by external events. To cultivate happiness based on inner peace it is necessary to be detached from the worries of the mind. We should not have a feeling of indispensability, but a calm acceptance of external events.” (Tejvan, 2008) A truly happy person will be able to take any circumstance and know that they can handle whatever comes and that things will improve and everyone will be happy again. Psalm 16:11 assures this by stating, “You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.”
How do you feel when you are happy, and how do you know if you are happy or just enjoying a temporary feeling? And if you are experiencing happiness, what type are you enjoying? “Hedonic happiness is derived from pleasure. It is most often associated with doing what feels good, self-care, fulfilling desires, experiencing enjoyment, and feeling a sense of satisfaction. Eudaimonia is a type of happiness that is derived from seeking virtue and meaning. Important components of eudemonic well-being include feeling that your life has meaning, value, and purpose. It is associated more with fulfilling responsibilities, investing in long-term goals, concern for the welfare of other people, and living up to personal ideals.” (Cherry, 2020) Hedonic happiness is short-lived and many times lead to trouble. A person that lives as a hedonist lives to maximize pleasure and will do almost anything to achieve their desires. Matthew 6:34 addresses this lifestyle, “Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” To achieve true and lasting happiness a person should try to live a eudaimonia lifestyle. Aristotle is credited for saying “eudaimonia is the highest human good, the only human good that is desirable for its own sake rather than for the sake of something else.” (Duignan, 2020) John 15:11 agrees by stating, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
“There is no explicit difference between happiness and joy. Both involve the emotions, both are pleasurable feelings, and both are mentioned in Scripture in passages that equate the two. A dictionary definition of happiness is “a state of well-being; a pleasurable or satisfying experience.” A definition of the word rejoices, related to the word joy, is ‘to feel great delight; to be glad.’ Depending on the translation, the Bible uses the words happy and happiness about 30 times, while joy and rejoice appear over 300 times. Jeremiah 31:13 says, ‘I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.’ Here, in the parallelism of Hebrew poetry, the words gladness and joy are used synonymously. And Proverbs 23:25 says, ‘Let your father and your mother be glad, and let her rejoice who gave birth to you.’ Being glad is the same thing as rejoicing in this verse. Unless we are willing to say that gladness and happiness are completely different things, then we must say that joy and happiness are linked. It is common today to hear believers speak of a difference between joy and happiness. The teaching usually makes the following points: 1) Happiness is a feeling, but joy is not. 2) Happiness is fleeting, but joy is everlasting. 3) Happiness depends on circumstances or other people, but joy is a gift from God. 4) Happiness is worldly, but joy is divine. But there is no such distinction made in Scripture, and forcing a distinction between two words that are so obviously close in meaning is unnecessary. If a person is joyful, then he or she is happy. There’s no such thing as glum joy. We cannot drain joy of emotion and still call it ‘joy.’ When God’s Spirit gives us joy, then we are happy people. Christians should be joyful; happiness should characterize our everyday lives.” (Joelle, 2020)
Like so many other things that we humans have to contend with being happy and joyful is a choice we have to make many times each day. God wants us to be full of joy and as a result, we will be full of happiness. It depends on our ability to make wise choices and be willing to live with the results. Remember Philippians 4:11-13 that states, “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
Cherry, K. (2020, 10 26). verywellmind. Retrieved from What is Happiness: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-happiness-4869755
Duignan, B. (2020, 7 3). Britannica. Retrieved from Eudaimonia Greek Philosophy: https://www.britannica.com/topic/eudaimonia/additional-info#history
Joelle, H. (2020). Got Questions. Retrieved from Is there a Difference Between Joy and Happiness: https://www.gotquestions.org/joy-happiness.html
Tejvan. (2008, 4 16). Happiness Will Follow You. Retrieved from The Difference Between False Happiness and True Happiness: https://www.srichinmoybio.co.uk/blog/happiness/the-difference-between-false-happiness-and-real-happiness/
Writer, P. T. (n.d.). Psychology Today. Retrieved from The Science of Happiness: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/happiness/the-science-happiness