“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” — Thomas Jefferson & the Committee of Five.

Proverbs 6:6-11 (NIV) ⁶  Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! ⁷  It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, ⁸  yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. ⁹  How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? ¹⁰  A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest– ¹¹  and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.

I agree with Jefferson and the committee of 5; the pursuit of happiness is an “unalienable right;” so much so that you can pursue wrongly if you so choose.  However, from the perspective of wisdom we must often choose happiness as a result over happiness as a current state.  How good are you at knowing when happiness as an outcome is preferable to happiness now?  You can’t always have it both ways.  You may not be able to have the happiness of a flat stomach later and have the happiness of a satisfied sweet tooth now.  You can’t always have the happiness of marital harmony later and have the happiness of getting your way now.  You probably can’t have the happiness of an intact family later and the happiness of an extra-marital affair now.   You can’t have the happiness of being joyfully related to people later and the happiness of dominating them now.  You can’t have the happiness of a healthy savings account later and have the happiness of spending all your money now.

Biblically this concept of trading the present joy for better future joy is found in the example of the ant that resists the happiness of a lazy summer for the happiness of a winter feast.  Summer’s a great time to relax, even for an ant; after all it’s hot and who wants to work when it’s hot.  But wise people know when life is a season of opportunity versus a season of reward.  There are aspects of life where partying now will steal the opportunity to party later.  If you have to make a choice, it’s always better to be able to start the next season of your life with happiness than to live happily in the current season of your life.  

Sure, I know people who seemingly will never stop, even at the end of a life season to celebrate.  I don’t have time and space here to deal with the complexity of the mind that can’t celebrate, can’t savor holy sensuality and can’t stop being industrious. Achievement addiction is a serious problem that robs humans of happiness and wreaks havoc on relational systems. But that being said; selling the future for the present is a more common problem for we mortals.

So in conclusion, make sure you understand happiness that happiness as a harvest, or a result is the best kind of happiness. I truly believe you should be in the pursuit of happiness; no matter how many high sounding sermons you have heard condemning anyone who wanted to be happy as well as holy. However make sure you realize that endings are always more important than beginnings.  Make sure you have a firm grip on the fact that there are places and spaces in your life where it is not possible to have ecstasy both now and later.  Remember delayed gratification is ALWAYS superior to immediate gratification, always, even an ant sized brain knows that.

PS: For everyone still reading, the ant’s brain has 250 thousand brain cells, the human brain has over 86 billion.  Proves the point that it’s not how many brain cells you have but how many you use that counts.