“In Pursuit of Happiness”

I have always wondered where this phrase – ‘..in pursuit of happiness – come from. I understand a lot of people would say it is from United State Declaration of independence. The expression is credited to Dr. Samuel Johnson in his 1759 novel Rasselas (wikipedia). I have heard it all over this country being used casually and even Hollywood caught the bug with a Will Smith movie, In pursuit of Happyness – nice movie I must say.

The question is what do people mean when they talk of “happiness” or its pursuit? Can you pursue happiness? Is “happiness” a destination or a state on itself? How lasting is “happiness” even when it is has been successfully “pursued”?

I did a little bit of research or lemme call it browsing, on this and I realized that the first public use of this phrase has to do with economic choice of pursuit than ephemeral search for emotional fulfillment. Maybe that tells us more about the use of the expression these days.

I can extrapolate based on the definition and usage of the word that our “pursuit of happiness” has more to do with our fulfillment and satisfaction based on our “acquisition” – Might be love, property etc. That will take me to my next question – Is happiness worth pursuing? I see it from the point that happiness is a means to an end and not an end of a process. Is it worth pursuing? I don’t think so. Why would you pursue a transient state when it is a flow and not the destination? Don’t get me wrong, I am not sadistic or live hating the world, I just think there are other things worth pursuing that could bring happiness as a by-product while giving you more complete fulfillment.

I am not trying to be religious here but I have known from time memorial that the only thing that is what pursuing – Righteousness. Happiness no matter how long it takes is just too risky to be pursued – it is not substantial as a whole point of pursuit – as a by-product, yes, but not the main course. The cost of pursuing it as the lead head and the gain accruing from it just doesn’t worth the effort. Maybe I am wrong…….!