My creed is this:
Happiness is the only good.
The place to be happy is here.
The time to be happy is now.
The way to be happy is to make others so.
Robert G. Ingersoll
I often wonder if I'm happy, which seems like an odd thing to say. I mean, I'm certainly doing my best to make the best of all the world has given me and still has to offer me, but I couldn't really tell you whether or not I'm happy. Perhaps it doesn't matter at all--I'm making the best of my life, so why should a word that may or may not mean anything significant throw me off? Is there really such a thing as happiness, or is it enough to be content with our lot in life and to keep on keeping on, doing our best to love others and give to others and to enjoy things like hot baths on Sunday evenings and good wine with some garlic crackers before dinner? Perhaps we put too much importance on a concept that simply can't be defined with any degree of accuracy: happiness for you necessarily must be different than what I see as happiness, no? So maybe the best thing that we can do is to do away with the word when we consider our goals and purposes in life. Perhaps this abstract concept that defines absolute definition has been leading us astray, and the best thing that we can do is to enjoy what we have, when we have it, and to make the most of the gifts that we've been given in these lives that we lead. I'd like to be happy, of course--but is there really such a thing?
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