Happiness

Happiness

on loop: raindrops?

today is such a long day. i've been in school since 730AM and i am just dying to sleep. anyway, my next class class was supposed to be a few minutes from now (at 130), but i friggin' forgot to read the assigned readings and even left my book! argh. i decided not to go class then, 'coz i have a feeling my prof's gonna call on me and i sure as hell know nothing about our topic for today. i can't bullsh*t my way out of it since it's a Spanish class and i don't even know how to say bullsh*t in spanish *LOL* (toro sh*t?). so now i'm wiling away my time here in the PC lab... blogging. since i have nothing else to do till my next class at 330.

anyway, as i was bumming away in the library earlier this morning, i came upon a book left on my study carrel by the person who used it before i did. it was entitled "Happiness: A Guide to a Good Life" by Jean Vanier. it was originally in french but was translated into english. i found it inetersting since it was tackling such a broad subject... happiness. turns out, it was to be treated as part of a discussion on Aristotelian policies. i lifted an excerpt from the introduction of the book and am gladly sharing it:

"Happiness,whatever else people may say, is the great concern of our life. A brief inquiry will easily bear this out. We would have only have to ask people rushing to work, strolling about the streets, or chatting over a drink, "What are you looking for in life?" Some might say, "success at work, promotion"; others, "marriage, starting a family" or a "peaceful life without conflict," or a "salary increase, a holiday in the sun, a good time with friends." But if we were to press them further, "Why do you want to be succesful, earn a salary increase, start a family, or have an enjoyable holiday?" their answer would no doubt be, "Because it would make me happy."

To be happy, to know happiness, is the great desire of every man and woman. We may differ perhaps in the means by which we attain happiness, but we all want to be happy. That is our greatest aspiration.

Caught up as we are in the business of living and our various activities, it is true that we do not often ask ourselves, "Why am I doing this, What am I looking for?" yet this is the anavoidable question about the meaning of life. And as soon as we ask ourselves that question, we start to philosophize.

Why is a human being created? For what happiness? That is the question the Greek philosophers posed, the question central to Jesus' message in the Beatitudes. It is the question that has existed in the hearts of men and women of all times, backgrounds, races, and religions. It is humanity's eternal question."

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sorry if it were a bit long... i just found the text really fascinating for some reason :) brilliant. i'm enjoying my Philosophy classes (hope i won't have to eat up those words in the future lol). hrrmmm. i'm tired. gotta go now :)