Leah+K’s+Final+AmEx+2015+Speech

We have a case of “the blues,” an unsatisfied disillusion to life in which we complain and scorn what responsibilities surrounds us. Children complain about not being able to have desert or the fact that their sibling got to choose the movie to watch while the babysitter was over. Students complain about homework assignments and not having time to do the things they “want” to do. Adults complain about their coworkers, and bills. The weekend is a safe haven. It is where their happiness lies. But I believe no one really know what happiness is. They may know what makes them happy, but they do not know what happiness is in relation to others and our world. And what I believe about happiness does not really matter to your happiness at all. Nevertheless, I will share my opinion on this subject.
 * The Pursuit of Happiness **

There is one thing that binds us all together. No matter what our background, where we are at in our lives, and what our past is, we all have a desire to be happy. It’s called the pursuit of happiness. This is partially why so many students are on a clear path through high school, striving for the impressive GPA, taking an absurd amount of AP classes while aiming to get into a “good” college. We want success and are told this is the one way to be successful. At this point, many times this year we have discussed that such a plain path to success, of which you cannot deviate from, is not the only way to be happy. Many of us have come to the conclusion that we do not need to follow this path. Contrary to this “one-path” belief, we have been told to take time to do what makes us happy. The lack of happiness in America is not solely a consequence of not doing what we want to do, but it's choosing to not be happy with what we have to do.

What makes one person pessimistic and another optimistic? What is the secret to such viewpoints? What is the secret to happiness? Why do we have memories and emotions? Do we really have a choice in what we feel? They say you can choose to be happy. They say you can choose how you feel.

All the philosophies, all the theories, all the studies, all the books written about this topic of human psychology produce their viewpoint on the ideal happiness. Some even define it as something undefinable. In reality what I think or what even these books tell us to think mean nothing. It is our own mindset. No one can change your mindset. It requires your thinking and desire to change it.

So how can you complain and be happy? We complain about not being able to do what makes us happy. But what does make us happy? What makes me happy? We claim we don’t have time to do the things we want to do. Ironically, I think we would find that if we had fewer responsibilities and more time, we wouldn’t know what to do with our lives. I find that on weekends when I have no homework I have so much time that I don’t know how to fill it. I literally sat there in my house one weekend afternoon with a car and a full tank of gas in the driveway thinking “You know what, I can do/go anywhere, within reason, right now.” Sadly though even with that endless opportunity I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Nothing beckoned my heart or desire. I wanted to be happy but I didn’t know how. We cram our lives so full of activities that even as children we become accustomed to the craziness of life. Children play multiple sports, have school, and playdates. At a young age we become used to having so much to do that we lose the ability to entertain ourselves when we have nothing to do. We become discontent with having no plans. This is not a call to slow down and enjoy life, to stop doing things that don’t make you happy, but to find joy in the everyday life. To be content with all that we have to do. The problem isn’t a lack of time. The problem is we don’t know what we want to do and are not content with our current situation.

We do not know what makes us happy. Rather we go searching for this happiness, a constant quest looking to the future, only to find we are miserable in the present. We then think of all we despise in the present. We think we must change what we are doing in the present to therefore make ourselves happy. Willingly though we should really be changing our mindset and rearrange our passion to include a love for everyday things. We should grow to love being busy and having so much to be a part of and accomplish. I find that having nothing to do only drives me crazier than having everything to do.

I want to live in an America where more people are happy or more specifically, content. I want to live in an America where in a recent World Happiness Report the United States is not ranked 17th. I want to live in an America that is not 18% more depressed than the America during the Great Depression when people had little to be happy about. We are wealthier, more educated and live longer than any previous generation, but we are dissatisfied complainers who search for joy instead of creating our own and being thankful. This is not a call to change what makes you happy because forcing everyone to be happy does not make anyone happy. It is not a call to drop all the things you hate and take up activities you think you might like. Its a call to think about your happiness in the present. For there is no future without the present and there is no past without the present. In order to create a life you can enjoy you must become satisfied with the now.

Helliwell, John, Richard Layard, and Jeffery Sachs, eds. "World Happiness Report." (n.d.): n. pag. World Happiness Report 2013. The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), 9 Sept. 2013. Web. 3 June 2015.
 * Sources **

The Pursuit of Happiness. Perf. Pastor Chad Erlenborn. Vimeo. Ventura Missionary Church, 12 Apr. 2015. Web. 04 June 2015.