Why Seeking Happiness As Your Goal in Life Fails

As long as happiness in life is your goal, you will always end up dissatisfied. Auschwitz death camp survivor, Viktor Frankl, stated: "It is the very pursuit of happiness that thwarts happiness. The more one makes happiness an aim, the more he misses the aim.”

Tragically, those who make happiness their goal usually resort to the same methods they've always tried in life. As we have noted, if you plant more of the "same" in your life, you get more of the "same."

This means that most us of have a pretty large learning curve; we keep trying to find happiness and satisfaction in life by our means, our wisdom, our efforts. We think to ourselves: "Money will make me happy." "These drugs will make me happy." "This relationship will make me happy." "This exciting and thrilling adventure will make me happy." "This job will make me happy."

Happiness comes only from what *happens* to you. Therefore, your mood will always be dependent on something external to you. That is a very precarious and unstable way to live. We long for--and were created for--a deeper, more permanent source.

Money, power, and sex ultimately fail to bring us fulfillment and satisfaction; even less so happiness.

They don't. Because they can't. You were made for something, Someone more.

Happiness, joy, and life satisfaction only come through knowing our Father. And the reason we went to all those other things was not because we had a sinful nature. On the contrary, our actions are evidence of a good nature created for relationship with the Father. The reason we sin and seek satisfaction in all those areas is because we don't really know the Father. We have believed a lie about him and that lie misguided us. We went off course thinking we would find what we wanted; thinking we were right.

"The spiritual life is about the liberation of God from our images of him.” - John O'Donohue

Grow in knowing the Father and his love for you and you'll stop behaviors that take you away from him and community. You'll see why certain actions were both unwise and unhealthy. Stop trying to solve your desires by planting more of the "same" in your life. Its fruit is obvious and predictable. Allow instead the seed of Christ's life and Christlike love to grow in you. Guard it and watch the results. Scripture promises you won't be put to shame or disappointed.