The Pursuit of Happiness Part 2: Of Design and Desire

“When you have once seen the glow of happiness on the face of a beloved person, you know that a man can have no vocation but to awaken that light on the faces surrounding him; and you are torn by the thought of the unhappiness and night you cast, by the mere fact of living, in the hearts you encounter.” – Albert Camus

“We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.” – Anne Frank

We are born for it, built for it, live for it. Regardless of creed, culture, age, gender or social class, human design hinges on one basic and cohesive element: the desire for happiness. From the crowning abode of the most affluent heads of state, to the meekness of a light spirited naturist, to scholar-code, white-coated professors, pioneers and influential thinkers, to withering infants of West Africa’s wasteland. Every man, woman and child will rest his head upon satin pillows, or hay stacks, or concrete morsels at the awnings of darkness, to dream of one thing: the dawn of happiness. As to how we achieve this common goal, though, is every man’s personal quest.

THE “YOU” FACTOR

The gift of desire is divin-o-genic (coming from God). Desire, in its purest and most beautiful sense, comes to its fullness within us when nourished by the gift of Knowledge. Healthy desire is born of a womb that knows, in full, the nature of that to which it seeks to give birth. In this context, the “womb” is our heart. So before we come into true desire of happiness, we must first know happiness. But then, to know happiness, one must first have a sense of unhappiness. To know light, you must know darkness. It is from, and within the darkness of our heart that light becomes true desire. From the shadows of anguish...we yearn rest, in the midst of chaos...peace, in hurt...healing. Desire is built in void...as we are. The human condition, by nature, is designed in darkness, nested within a womb for 9 months, then born into light...in which it will grow. As the mustard seed withers before its bloom, so too we grow vacant before light birth. The “void” of darkness within and around us creates desire...and desire, as a magnet, draws us closer to that which was designed to fill us. Hence from the womb, the foetus is drawn...extracted almost, into the light. Our “extraction” into light (the light birth) signifies the first phase of our human design to desire.

Now, having been born into light, we grow into it, in the culmination that we live to desire it. A phase at which our human condition seeks to grow intimate with what we are born into. We no longer take comfort in our birthright of “living in light”, but rather we desire that light live within us...that we live OF the light...that we become light ourselves. We have matured into the second phase of our design – the heart of desire: to live light. The “You” factor embodies the concept of each human, existing by nature as an “imperfect whole”; deficient in one aspect or another, but designed to become whole. The “You” conceptualizes all means: every word, thought and action executed by each personal being in quest to fulfil their void of true desire...a quest for completion of self. And again the receptacle theory gives new relevance to the human tendency to cling to physical entities of our external sphere, which, in some sense, are viewed as essential elements of internal stability. Given our “void” nature, we, as humans, are not quite “self sustained” units, but essentially require external ingredients to help make us “whole”. The necessity of an external body as an integral part of the completion model brings us to the “We factor”.

THE “WE” FACTOR

The nutrition experts can all agree to the beautifully beneficial effects of Vitamin C as an antioxidant on the biological scale. Healthcare providers recommend, to every adult, the consumption of at least 1000mg of Vitamin C daily. Many mammals are well equipped with the necessary biological tools to produce their own Vitamin C; we humans are one of the unfortunate few that can’t (a defect upon which lies the blame of either God or “evolution”...or both). But thanks to keen advancements in pharmaceutical care, today we can pop a pill or two and award our beautiful bodies a daily gift of antioxidants to keep cells happy and working as they should. Here is a fine example of obtaining what is necessary for within from out. So we are built to complete ourselves, but not by ourselves. The idea that “no man is an island” sheds light on two essential aspects of our design: 1. The Contact element: Every human being is, either through direct or indirect means, in constant dynamic interaction with another. 2. The Companion element: Each individual is designed, in some way, to complement another. He is, in turn, complemented by another. Research geared towards investigating the habits, thoughts and lifestyle of so called “feral children” gives evidence of the companionship factor playing a central role in basic human development. In essence, a child left to grow in absence of basic human contact will grow to lack the basic social, behavioural and psychological elements of what we commonly call “human nature”. Evidently, then, my human-ness was not simply inherited, nor will I, left alone, simply “grow into it”. Agreeably though, it is to some extent already “in us”, but an acquisition factor is also at play here.

The master design is such that we BECOME human THROUGH human. Viewed as a “completion factor”, human-ness exists both in vivo as “what you’re born with” (the nature element) and ex vivo as “what you acquire” through contact and companionship (the nurture element). We attain the fullness of understanding and appreciating our human purpose when both elements are merged: one complements the other. We shall never quite become “whole” as humans unless our nature is nourished by nurture; we are human by birth, and yet we grow to "become" what we are through human contact, fellowhip, love...the elements of design through which we we beciome the light into which we are born. It is therefore by “mutual affection”, through human presence, that we as individuals are able to grasp the fullness of the human element. It is through complement in companionship that we come to discover ourselves, our purpose, potential, our beauteous design...of what it means to be human. Then happiness, undeniably, is the empowerment to live what we are, in and through the completeness of each other, of humanity reflecting the summit of creation. For in the beginning, God looked over his design in eyes of contentment, and He “saw that it was good”. Happy are we who find relevance in the fact that all “goodness”...began with a void; desire from darkness.

Today we shall grow into mutual affection; to finding Christ in each other, He who completes me in Himself, through human fellowship.

The Pursuit of Happiness Part 1: The Receptacle Theory

“We enter this world with a screaming heart, thrusting ourselves head first into the open...fighting against our knotted umbilical cord, to leave nurture for nature...in zealous desire to begin living. Sadly we lose ourselves somewhere between creeping and walking...that unsteady gait made for stumbling...then to standing in a world we thought we knew...but never loved...to crouching with cane to wheelchair to bedridden. Then to leave this world with a whimper. Program terminate, riddle unsolved. Without His grace, the journey is pointless.”

You are what you eat. That which you allow to enter this temple...is what this temple shall become. You are living, breathing thought.Think...Examine the nature of your “food for thought”. What energies (physical, spiritual and emotional) have you “ingested” within the past 24 hours? If you’re not feeling your best today, chances are...you thought yourself into it. What? Are you going to blame your lack of well being on a bunch of battery operated chemical reactions that know nothing apart from their inherent ability to keep natural order? Stand up, be a real man (or woman) and face your problem. But there’s one other problem apart from the actual problem itself, which is the fact that the problem itself...is you. We must now engage the most daunting of questions: Can you face yourself? Or rather...do you have the guts to? (The word ‘guts’ being used both playfully and symbolically here). Theoretically speaking, we are, at the core, first person...but we live in the third. And no matter how “developed” your country of residence, we are all, individualistically, third world. Not only is it comforting to know that no man is an island, but also quite humbling a reality that it’s not all about the “I” but rather the “He”, “She”, “It” and “They”.

Tell me...how much of you is actually you? I mean...how much of you is there in you? (No really...stop laughing/frowning and answer the question like the good girl/guy i know you are). Look...the language and grammar system on Microsoft Word ’07 attempted to correct my improper English by suggesting that i substitute the word “is” after “you” for “are”. Then the question would read: “I mean...how much of you are there in you?” But then, grammatically speaking, the question still does now sit well unless the word “much” is changed to “many”. The grammatically sound question would now read: “I mean...how many of you are there in you?” An irrevocable sense of plurality is evident. It is therefore no surprise that we so often struggle with issues of identity. The question “Who am I?” has passed unsolved into the graves of some of the world’s leading theologians, philosophers and scientists. And again, it all gathers in the abyss of our third world nature. In semblance of the classic third world economy, we, as singular physical, emotional and spiritual entities, “import” a lot more from the external than we “export”. We are broadly “receptacle bases”, consuming, storing (and conditionally) excreting various energy inputs arising from our external sphere of existence. The receptacle theory, in itself, adequately and rationally spawns the familiar adage: “You are what you eat.”

Indeed, a broad spectrum of the various energies (both positive and negative) we allow to enter our being, is stored within us. In fact, our receptacle nature has made us so open to external energies, we often become the subject of their manifestations. The right energies are those which, when consumed, will build who we are, foster spiritual, emotional and mental growth, and improve our overall state of well being. The wrong ones, on the other hand, will crush character, compromise our physical, mental and emotional integrity and fracture self esteem. Depress-o-genic thoughts like “I’m not good enough”, “I can’t do this” and “I don’t fit in” are toxic in nature, metabolize rapidly to poisons in vivo, cause extensive emotional and spiritual injury, and are in general poorly excreted. Poor excretion is often linked to the ability of a given thought/idea to adhere to the framework of our conscience/subconscience. Once firmly bound, they exhibit a marked tendency towards propagation or mass attraction – one thought leads to another: negative attracts negative. Any substance under our consumption (whether material or otherwise) that resists excretion will essentially become a part of us, provided that the ultimate effect of its ingestion is non-lethal. So...“what doh kill...does fatten.” Notably important: the ingestion and storage of material substances affects WHAT we are. Conversely...that of non-material entities will affect WHO we are.

The sound mental and spiritual diet is one that seeks to limit our consumption of negative/destructive energies, and makes maximum use of positive ideas, words and reflections. When we “fatten” ourselves on the wrong energies, we grow to reflect the fruits of disorder within our being. We become the product of our consumption: depressed, angry, corrupt, envious, apathetic. We lose sight of happiness and our passion for living. Careful control of what thoughts and energies we harbour within ourselves is the first step towards achieving true happiness. So let’s begin with metacognition – thinking about what you’re thinking first of all...tame the subconscious tongue into speaking positive thoughts about yourself. Naturally, then, we become less prone to ingesting and storing the unhealthy energies of our external sphere, but rather, the light within us attracts light from the external. Essentially, we internally become magnets of positive power.

2 Corinthiamns 4:712 confers the analogy of the human being as “a vessel of great spiritual treasure” – “But we hold this treasure in pots of earthenware, so that the immensity of the power is God’s and not our own. We are subjected to every kind of hardship, but never distressed, we see no way out but we never despair, we are pursued but never cut off; knocked down, but still have some life in us; always we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus, too, may be visible in our body...”We have little control over what the world feeds to us, but we do have the full power to control what we eat, and what we make of it. Understanding and embracing the great treasure and light force at the core of our being allows us to fall...and yet rise again, pressed on every side...but not crushed, struck down...but never destroyed. Because above all, we are built to hold the great treasure of life, the power of light, and the gift of happiness.

Today i shall respect my mental gut, with the right diet of word, thought and cognitive energies.