The Pursuit of Happiness

I love it when modern social science discovers ancient wisdom. Reading in Adam Grant’s excellent book, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know, “Psychologists found that the more people value happiness, the less happy they often become with their lives.”

We can read in almost any ancient wisdom literature, such as the Proverbs in the Hebrew scriptures, this same wisdom.

Unfortunately, we seem to be living out the philosophy developed by Jeremy Bentham in the late 18th century and later publicized by John Stuart Mill, “it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong.”

Bentham pushed for many good social advancements that once adopted has made life better for many. He got this wrong. 

But look around. Perhaps you, yourself, are captured by this idea and certainly many people around you, who think that life is all about the pursuit of happiness.

Happiness will not be found that way.

Happiness is a byproduct of pursuing a life of service to others. Service that is performed through a spiritual alignment with God regardless of your particular brand of faith.

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