David Edwards Jr: Happiness

During my first year serving as a Lasallian Volunteer, my focus was on peace and being at peace with all circumstances. For my second-year of service, I have chosen to make happiness the focal point of my service year. Peace and happiness can often be mistaken as the same thing or items that can be interchangeable. I like to think of them as two separate things. Peace being a state of tranquility or calmness, while happiness refers to the feeling of pleasure and joy. Just recently, I came across a quote that spoke to me. I decided to hang it up on the wall by my desk so that I can read it every day at my site. It says:

“Be happy, not because everything is good, but because you can see the good in everything.”

I believe this quote speaks wonders to us as LVs and the work that we do. More importantly, it speaks to us as human beings. A lot like peace, people in today’s society are forever seeking happiness and never finding it. We try so hard to attain happiness through things that we think are supposed produce pleasure and joy, but we only receive temporary satisfaction until the next thing comes along. Things like fancy cars, expensive jewelry, the newest technology…a pumpkin spiced latte from Starbucks (no shade to Starbucks, that latte is bomb!). But you get my point. The material wants that we are supposed to view as joyous or pleasuring, are the things we put before the necessities that will actually give us real happiness. Clinging to the materials our society forces upon us, we will always fall short and our trials and tribulations will always feel insurmountable. The little things like self-worth, realizing that every hurdle must pass, or that the next thing is not always the best thing are all great building blocks to finding happiness. So, in conclusion, I’d like to propose a challenge to myself, my cohort, and whoever is reading this blog post. The challenge is to remind ourselves that there is a time limit on all of the materialistic wants that society tells us to cling to. But also, there is relief in knowing that everything we need is already here. We just have to be open to see it.

David Edwards Jr is a second year LV serving at John Paul II Academy in Racine, Wisconsin and is a 2015 graduate of Lewis University.