It’s All In The ‘-ing’

True happiness is not made in getting something. True happiness is becoming something. This can be done by being committed to lofty goals. We cannot become something without commitment.

~ Marvin J. Ashton

This quote can seem initially to be at odds with my new-found perspective of living in the now, embracing the present moment.  I have ostensibly renounced that sense of always ‘striving’ for something, of thinking that your happiness lies at some point in the future, and yet I find myself drawn to this quote about commitment to lofty goals.

However, on closer reading of it, I discover that it is in fact entirely compatible with the concept of living meaningfully in the present moment.  The key is in the use of the present continuous tense – the ‘ing’.

This quote points out that happiness lies in the becoming, in the being committed.  It doesn’t say you will be happy once you have become something, or once you have achieved your goals.  It says that your happiness lies in the very process of the becoming and in the committment inherent in the process of achieving.

Happiness does not lie at some point in the future when you have become or done.  Happiness lies right now, in believing in something enough to engage in the process of becoming and doing.  True happiness is more about satisfaction than having arrived at any point – and there is nothing more satisfying than being committed to something worthy and being in the process of contributing to it.

Happiness Is A By-Product

Happiness is always a by-product. It is probably a matter of temperament, and for anything I know it may be glandular. But it is not something that can be demanded from life, and if you are not happy you had better stop worrying about it and see what treasures you can pluck from your own brand of unhappiness.

~ Robertson Davies