Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

As I sit here having my first cup of coffee and pondering the virtues of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, I am, possibly for the first time in my life, realizing what those words actually mean and why they are so important.

“Life” is something you have or you don’t.  You’re either alive or dead.  Or perhaps never existed in the first place.  Life could even be an illusion in a cosmos of nothing but illusions.  But, Life as we humans interpret it, is “the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.”

I believe the sequence of the words, Life, Liberty and Happiness, is equally important.  Happiness is a progressive result of Life and Liberty toward the Pursuit of and achieving Happiness – the ultimate goal.

As such, all living things are likely seeking Liberty to Happiness in their own way. 

It is within the realm of consideration that without the Liberty to pursue the ultimate pleasure, Happiness, then there is no point in continuing to live.  

So what is Liberty and Happiness?  It’s nothing without Life to give it purpose.

I am, by any definition, alive.  I possess Life, and I do not need a Declaration of Independence or Constitutional Law to tell me that I should expect, demand and protect my Liberty in order to pursue Happiness.  It is implanted in my DNA.  I am bound by Life for Life to pursue Happiness.

So where does Liberty fit into the scheme of things? 

I think Liberty is the catalyst that connects Life and Happiness.  It gives all life forms the freedom and the time to pursue Happiness any way they wish, and at any time they wish.  And to interpret Happiness as whatever makes all life forms happy. 

We humans are not alone in this pursuit, but we may be the only species that has to occasionally remind ourselves that Happiness is the goal.

The road to Happiness

can be daunting and formidable

 but it is my choice as to how to travel it

 no matter where it takes me

 as long as I am Happy  

Judy and I have lived as wife and husband for 15,870 days.  Throughout all of them, we’ve managed to achieve various levels of Happiness, sometimes punctuated with challenges typical to all humans, but nonetheless, happy.  As some would say, We are “Blessed” with happiness.

Now, once again, our Happiness is challenged, this time by time itself.  We are growing older, which we appreciate very much, but with the aging process comes the realization that we cannot continue to live where we are most happy.  It is a growing struggle to maintain our lifestyle here, both physically and emotionally. 

In addition, our happy place has seen an increase in criminal activity, something that stresses us even more.  Our home is being encroached upon by other life forms that we cannot accept and will never accept. 

After 29 wonderful years we have found ourselves at odds with our surroundings and its inhabitants.  It is time to pursue Happiness elsewhere.

Our home, our Happy Place, goes on sale tomorrow.  Ironically, the person or persons who purchases it, will also be seeking their own Happiness.  And we sincerely hope they too feel the love and magic of this special place as we did for over 29 years.

And once again we continue to seek the ultimate goal in life worth seeking: just to be happy.

We believe we have found our new Happy Place in Covington, Louisiana.

I sure hope we don’t have to move again.  It’s a real pain in the ‘everywhere.’