Happiness: Curing the "If Onlys" of Life

*** From a Christian Perspective***

"But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful." Psalms 69:3

Are you happy? Really happy? Are you satisfied with your life? Here is the startling truth: If things could make us happy, we'd be in paradise every day. We think "more is better" Is it? It seems the more we have, the less we like it.

         Perhaps you've heard the story about the king who fell into a serious depression. Nothing could lift his spirits. His servants tried everything- music, dancing, court jesters, lavish banquets, beautiful flowers...yet nothing seemed to help him. Finally an old and wise man came to the king with an unusual piece of advice. "O king, if you can obtain the shirt off the back of a truly happy man, you yourself will be happy." Upon hearing those words, the king ordered his men to search the four corners of the earth and bring him the shirt off the back of a truly happy man. Weeks passed, then months. Finally his soldiers returned. "O king, after many days and much searching, we found a truly happy man. But your majesty, the man was not wearing a shirt."

          How fitting, how true to life. We think to ourselves, "If only I had..." and then we fill in the blanks with our latest dream. A new house, a new wife, a new set of children, a new job, a new school, a new career, a new church, a new portfolio, a new start in life.

           Oh, how happy we'd be... if only! No wonder we're unhappy. No wonder we are discontented. No wonder we are miserable. No wonder we dream so much. I should say, covetousness has done its evil work within. It has started to bore its way deep into our soul, now it has started to eat away our happiness, leaving us empty, frustrated, and angry.

          Now that I have brought up the topic of covetousness, you may raise a question. At what point in our life, does our desires, or lets say our legitimate desires starts to  become coveting? Now this is interesting. While you try to justify your stand, let me continue. Coveting occurs either when we desire something we have no right to have (e.g., our neighbor's wife) or when the desire becomes the controlling passion of our life so much so that, we begin to believe that our happiness depends on the acquisition of the item itself.

            

           Let me give you some illustrations to ponder upon:

• A new house may be nice, but my happiness does not depend on a new house. If it does, then I am coveting.
• A new car may help me get around, but it can't be the source of my happiness. If it is, then I am coveting.

        .... You could relate other examples that best suits your situation. But I hope these two will be able to give us a gist of what we are trying to understand here.

          The moment we trick ourselves into thinking, This [item or goal] is necessary for my happiness in life, then we have crossed the line into coveting. Remember, crossing beyond the boundary/border will only lead to more issues and problems.

          Let me turn to the Bible passage cited above, here David reminds us in Psalms 68:3 of a truth we already know - but often forget [if you happen to be a non-Christian, and this is the first time you've come across this passage, you are excused for your in-cognizance, but now that you have read it yourself, you now know the truth]. Happy are they who find their happiness in God. They shall be happy indeed!

Remembering Wangari Muta Maathai 1940-2011

     
                Wangari Maathai, the first African woman recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, died after a long struggle with cancer on 25 September 2011. She was 71.
                Kenya's most recognizable woman, Maathai won the Nobel in 2004 for combining environmentalism and social activism. She was the founder of the Green Belt Movement, where over 30 years she mobilized poor women to plant 30 million trees.
                Maathai, one of the most widely respected women on the continent, played many roles- environmentalist, feminist, politician, professor, rabble-rouser, human rights advocate and head of the The Green Belt Movement which she founded in 1977. Its mission was to plant trees across Kenya to fight erosion and to create firewood for fuel and jobs for women. She said, "We're liable for the ecological system of these plants, without them, we won't survive either."
               This notable biologist was appointed the first female biologist professor of University of Nairobi in 1971, and latter elected the president of the Biological Academy. In 1978, she won the Germany academic exchange scholarship, the first female winner of the East Africa of this scholarship. Afterwards she was granted Doctoral Degree of Biologist.
                As the green party member, Maathai was elected senator in the initial free election in Kenya in December 2002. In January 2003, she was appointed Assistant Environmental Minister, in charge of natural resources protection. Recently she was conferred the title of "seniority holding a flaming spear"
                In recognizing Maathai, the Nobel committee said that she had stood up to a former oppressive regime- a reference to former Kenyan President Daniel Toroitich arap Moi. 

"Environmental Jurisprudence"

"Sky is like father, Earth is like mother, and all the creatures that live in between constitute a family. Any disturbance to any one of them will disturb the entire system." Rig Veda

"Technology Overload"

Technology/Information Overload

                     "Technology has failed to simplify our lives." Don't you agree? Just look around you and see it for yourself. Maybe you are contended the way technology brings all the luxuries and information just at your door step. Oh yeah! Easy life...the word 'E' or 'e' is the prefix for anything that has to do with Information and Technology today...to name some...e-governance, e-banking, e-learning...etc...etc...etc. Now, you might say, why, this is not bad; it makes life easy, fast, comfortable and productive! Give a high five for that! Yes to technology! You see even top enterprises and firms put up toasts to technology! They say lets celebrate. The limelight is enjoyed by technology! Of course, it is technology that is doing all the things... Now, man has less work to do...everything is just a 'click' away. Snap! just like that!

                      Well, I have no intention of accusing technology in any way, after all I owe it to technology for allowing me to share my thought and express it in this way so that all of  you can read it and understand it. Again, here's to technology...cheers!

                      But people, with this column, I would like to share some of the challenges I have faced after my encounter with technology. Which I think, in many instances, you might have personally faced it too...at some point or the other. Technology is not bad in anyway: but I want to put it this way...Technology has brought about information overload, and made men's life all the more miserable, confused and restless, despite of it being created to bring comfort and luxury to men.

                     Just for instance, I had to struggle or rather a debate was on within my mind as to whether I should use simply black color or other color for my text, whether I should add background color to my text, which font to use, which size will suit my text....so on and so forth. Well if the page layout is not that attractive, now it's my fault not technology...why? Because I had too many information at my desk that I was so perplexed and confused...rather indecisive as to make the right choice. Now that is called 'technology overload'. I've had my share of struggle with technology today. That was just a tip of the iceberg!

                      Now I would like to present you some of the key features that explains as to how technology put a lot of pressure on us in many ways. I have to firstly admit that it is because of technology I have come this far, now, let me just leave aside the advantages of technology as we all know what are they. But as the topic at hand is about, let say disadvantages of technology.

                       I would like to share it in two dimensions.

Ist DIMENSION:

First, Technology, diminishes peoples ability to be effective.

Second, With technology ruling, men have lost the ability to reflect rather than just react.

Third, Technology contributes to global warming.

Fourth, Creation/invention of new chemical compounds with uncertain impact on life and health.

Fifth, Invention of weapons of Mass Destruction.

2nd DIMENSION:

Sixth, 'Over-choice'

Seventh, 'Surplus Complexity'... This one's so tempting to expound. Let me give some instances. How many of us have faced stressful situations over making the desires choice over things such as these: all those ring tones to choose  from, different themes, programs and applications, wallpaper...(hey you just have one LCD monitor or mobile screen and you have a dozens of favorite wallpapers to choose. How often to you change them?) (chuckles!). Not to mention the personal devices to be baffled with!

Eighth, Too many options: Instead of simplifying, it has rather made the work harder and complicated.

                        Well, that's how I have come up with the idea of sharing this with you all! Let me not make any concluding remarks...that's not quite necessary. I shall leave the rest to you, for you to ponder upon! 

                        At the end, technology still rocks...after all!!