Happiness VS Meaning

One thing that bothered me just a few hours ago. Do I want to live a LIFE OF MEANING, or a LIFE OF HAPPINESS?


After Frisbee training today, the team had a little celebration for the birthday of one of the members of the team. He is a member of the Society of Jesus. Yes, a Jesuit brother. And after the dinner, he made a really surprising surprise. HE IS LEAVING THE SOCIETY. KShhsdaBSjgedb right????!!!!! (Sorry Brother, I really feel like sharing this. Besides, you said it's okay. And your name isn't here :D) Yes, he is not going to be a Jesuit Brother anymore, hence, he is going to stop his journey to priesthood. SUCH A BRAVE DECISION. 


So after eating and after the shocking announcement, the boys ( of the frisbee team) had a little chat. While the boys were talking to Bro (that's what we call him, but not anymore since he's already leaving), they were asking what made him to come up with that decision. He said a lot of reasons, and those reasons were brought about by a long period of thinking. Then one of the boys said, "Well Bro, you really have to choose between a life of meaning or a life of happiness"  WOAH! That was very well said! He said he got it from the series, Hero. And because it affected me so much, I have been thinking about it on the way home and now, I am blogging it!

Life of Meaning, or Life of Happiness?

Now, I am asking myself, do I want to live a life of happiness or a life of meaning? I don't even know what is the difference between the two, so I googled it! Mr. Linderman says "To be truly happy a man must live absolutely in the present. No thought of what has gone before and no thought of what lies ahead; but a for a life of meaning, a man is condemned to wallow in the past and obsess about the future." Oooooowkaaay. So now I get it. To live a life of happiness means not worrying about what happened in the past and what will happen in the future. It's just like saying "live life as if you're gonna die tomorrow." To live a life of meaning, you have to make sure you are heading to your extreme goal, the one that keeps you going, the reason why you wake up in the morning. You have to correct those things you made in the past, and make sure tomorrow will be a better day, of less mistakes. Now that is HARD. 

Given these meanings, seems like I would want to live a life of Happiness. Who doesn't want to be happy? I want to be happy. It is easier than to be conscious of yesterday and the next day. But then, I come to question myself, is this really what God made me for? Just to be happy? I am not sure about what verse in the  Bible it is in, but I am very sure that there is something there that says "there should be a meaning why we are living in this world. Life has meaning, and we should live that meaning". (Enlighten me please what verse in the Bible it is in.)

But, can't we live both kind of lives? I would like to think that I am living both lives right now. I am a teacher, that's what I wanted to do, I am happy being a teacher, and I believe that is the meaning of my life, to educate young minds and help them live the world. As I live that meaning of my life, I am happy. But then, I worry about tomorrow-what lessons I will teach, how I will teach it, and how I will test if they would understand it. I worry about what happened in the past-how I will better myself using the mistakes I did before. yes, there are times when I forget about the past, when I don't care about what's going to happen in the future, but, I always go back to reality. Yes, today is here, but there is always tomorrow. And to be able to get to the present, the past brings you to it.


As I finish writing this blog, I come to realize,  a life of meaning is what I actually am living right now, and it's way more practical and realistic than living a life of happiness. You can't  live just for today, there is always tomorrow, unless you decide to live in dreamland forever, where it is always happily ever after..."