Monday, December 15, 2014

Life in Memories

“People wait all week for Friday, all year for summer, all life for happiness.”
Life is surprisingly empty if not accompanied by moments worth remembering.  It might not be uncommon for a day or a month to pass in a blur, just marking time.  Can we choose otherwise?


Friends near and far, they shape our understanding,
our purpose, our view of life, of ourselves,
and the world.
Memories are made in brief moments or perhaps in a long struggle.  Joy or horror, memories are where we look back and see our self and others, the things that mattered, maybe the purpose for which we've lived.  Our happiness is in there.


Magnificent moments and the best of memories arise from doing well, do they not? And they often include people about whom we care deeply.

Our family, and particularly our children exemplify our hope to do well by others.  And our grandchildren.  Them, especially.

In that circle and beyond, a life invested in serving for the benefit of others appears to provide the deepest and most meaningful bedrock of happiness.  Not surprisingly, social science and psychology studies suggest a life focused on self, wealth, and pleasure is the least likely to satisfy more than fleetingly.  

Do the research yourself, if you're curious. Here's a good place to start.  It's a quick summary of 40 years of research.

Despite free will, we have few choices.  We have no choice at all about where or when we were born, how we were raised or the things we experienced along the way.  We have little choice about the culture or the economy in which we live.  That which we can choose is perhaps limited to how, and to what end, we serve.  True?  

If you didn't stop to see the video, you should.  It's useful understanding about what to do next.