MY THOUGHTS ON HAPPINESS

A while back - A youtuber who I watch quite often did a Q&A session with his friend and one of the questions he was asked was : "Are you religious?". His answer was "No" and after a moment he said with a laugh : "I do think that religious people are much more happier than I am..." a statement that struck me as odd at the time. (his friend agreed with him and they moved on to the next Q. without discussion) 

Today, in Jn.1 1:3-4: St.John explains why he is writing his letter - so people would know about Jesus and form a community/ fellowship that is formed in God. And he specifically says "We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete". This statement struck a bell in my brain.

I think I understand why the youtuber said that the religious were happier than most people: its because our joys are different from (or at least originate differently from) the joys of other people who don't believe in God.

I think, "happiness" can be classified into two:

1. Worldly happiness (Fleeting and originates from the human "brain")

2. "Other type" happiness (Stays, grows and builds - originates in God's love.)

TYPE 1:

This kind of happiness is what everyone experiences in their lives. When they do something good for someone or someone does something good for them. These deeds are obviously good and inspired from God in someway - but this type of happiness often is forgotten or covered up by our daily lives.

TYPE 2:

This kind of happiness is a mixture of trust in God and his plan and Love for him. 

Meaning: we become happy when we realize that God loves us and is doing good for us. This kind of happiness grows and never can be forgotten - because you cannot forget God's love when you are quite literally surrounded by it. 

But there is a small drawback to this happiness - it must be "developed" (which is what religious people do). We need to get our brains to remember that everything is from God. Once we do that - we will be constantly reminded of his love and hence will always be happy...even in sad times (because we know that this too is from God and that he has a plan for us which is GOOD)

The beauty of this happiness is that if we train to see TYPE 2 happiness TYPE 1 happiness automatically doubles - because when we are presented with some worldly gift - we will be reminded of God's Love and goodness (making us doubly happy - both spiritually and physically)

That is why I think religious people seem happier.

So, St. John's happiness is TYPE 2 happiness - since it is rooted in Love for God and that should be our motive too - not to have worldly happiness (but to have Happiness rooted in God - for that happiness only grows and never dies)