“Happiness” by Arnold P

 

Happiness is the word this society is constantly evolved around. Societies’ existence is because of happiness. I believe happiness is a terrible thing in my opinion. Happiness is temporary and you will always need that something in order to gain your happiness compared to joy where it is eternal. You will only need it once and you will always be joyful. This life has many temporary things that are thrown at you as a distraction to keep you off course.

 

My generation is attacked the most in this world because we are easily influenced by just about anything. They say if you're not happy go drink with your friends, smoke weed, it's healthy, go have fun and use a girl or guy for your own benefit. This world throws just about anything wrong at you and declares it good as long as it makes you happy. Drugs, alcohol, lust, fantasies always play a big role in this. This pandemic has taught me one thing and it's trying to feel better isn’t something you can fix by taking things from the outside. You have to fix it from finding things within. It’s like a rusted car, instead of actually scraping the rust off you continue to paint over it until the paint boils up and then you have to continuously repaint over it instead of fixing the problem itself. This world tells you basically not to fix the problem, but instead use

things that will temporarily make you feel better about yourself. I have heard of many different situations where “friends' ' tell their friends who just left a relationship that they need a rebound.

 

A rebound is basically a girl/ guy you use to make yourself feel better about the break-up and completely ignore the fact you are hurting inside. All the pain you feel from the aftermath of a devastating break-up you decide to block it out by living a fantasy “relationship” with someone who thinks you truly love them, but in reality you can barely love yourself and in that process you are making that person feel exactly how you feel. A Lot of girls on social media I see do the questionnaires and ask for other people’s opinions of themselves and constantly post selfies and expose their body just to hear another guy/ girl say how good you look. I know some guys do it too, but I see it more frivolously with girls. They already said you're beautiful, do you have to hear it for the 100th time again just to make yourself feel better about yourself? Opinions change and are like taking a pill, whenever you're sad or depressed you post pictures of yourself and want others to hype you up just to make you temporarily feel better when in reality you don’t truly love yourself at all.

 

 

Then a terrible guy comes around the corner making you feel good when in reality they are not truly interested in you, but you're so blind-sided that you take the bait. This has happened way too often with the people I care about and I try to tell them, but they continue to not listen even to their closest of friends. They care more about what the world says about them instead of people who actually know them. I remember I liked this girl and I couldn’t get over her for a long time. Immediately my friend told me I should go mess around with girls. This wasn’t coming from a guy it was coming from a girl and that blew my mind. I never did because I know

it’s not right and my morals and spirituality held me back as well. Plus I told myself I don’t need temporary happiness in order to fix the whole inside I needed something that was real. All my life I walked around with a hole in my heart and I continued to act as if it's ok when in reality it's not. In order to supposedly fix this hole I filled it up with temporary things that only made me feel complete during the moment. The lust of this world, friends, depressed music, everything the world had to offer I was interested in while some things I never strayed towards because my morals and spirituality kicked in. I say all this to say that no I don’t believe in Happiness and it’s just a toxic word used to convince others how to live their life. Everything in this world will never truly make you happy because all of this will fade away. A quote from Hosea Ballou states, “real happiness is cheap enough, yet how dearly we pay for its counterfeit.”

 

 

In order to pursue happiness in this world you must give up yourself, take up your cross and burn it to the ground. The Bible states in Luke 9:23, “whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” God offers us a chance of Joy that is eternal everlasting peace with Him all in return for one thing. To believe in His son Jesus Christ and that He rose from the dead. The world offers temporary happiness during this life all for one thing in return and that is our very souls. Happiness is temporary while Joy is eternal. Yes we will all go through hardships in this life, but I choose to press on because I know my reward will be in Heaven in the end. Life is a race and the world is constantly trying to drag you down. The world wants your soul so bad they will even breed “runners” (people) in this life to match your speed and kick you with their spikes till you bleed and can’t continue. That is why God is here to give you that endurance and encourage you to continue to push. One thing I would like to say to

my generation and to the world is the things this world has to offer are all meant to trap your soul and keep you from achieving what God’s purpose is for your life.

 

 

Yes in the heat of the moment it may feel good, the happiness will start to kick in and that evil spirit will block out what is waiting for you on the other side which is death. The world doesn’t want you to truly fix your problems because as long as you are distracted by it you are still being held back. I rather would take my chances on what the world calls a hoax then continue to live this life of lies. Everyday is a spiritual battle inside my mind and for everyone else as well. The fact I constantly have to say no to the same thing is tiring and sometimes emotionally and physically draining, but I have no other choice. This is after all the world and I don’t expect it to get any easier than this. I expect it to get a lot harder and in order to face that I have to stay close to God. My question to you is are you willing to pursue happiness at the cost of your own soul? Are you willing to compromise your own morals in order to gain acceptance from others?

 

 

The world shuns good because good in this world is like a slap to the face for them reminding them how wrong they are. Don’t ever give up and settle for straight happiness. Never take things outside of yourself to try and fix something that is inside your spirit, ask God for help because people will change. Those people who say you're pretty today might not say the same tomorrow. Those people who say they love you forever might not feel the same next week. Jesus though will never ever change. You owe it to yourself to pursue something even greater than that of which is in this world. This pandemic is rough, but the fact your still breathing means God is not done with you. No matter what you do in this life if you're still breathing, here in this world

every opportunity is designed for you to get even closer to God. Yes it is painful, the process, because God is literally going against the laws of this world put up by Satan and bringing you into a whole other meaning. You are going to get hatred and people are going to leave your side, but remember God never will. So no I do not believe in Happiness because what I believe in is something more than that which is temporary. I believe in something that is eternal.