Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness

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.

This one line from our Declaration of Independence is so incredibly powerful.

Not only do we pronounce that we hold these beliefs to be true.  It’s that we hold them to be self-evident.  They’re the obvious.  They prove themselves to be true, over and over again.

It’s astounding to me that  239 years later we’re still trying to figure out what most of that sentence means.  

Or at least how to live it out.

In so many ways we’re still standing on battlegrounds, trying to prove we aren’t created equal.   Human Life is only regarded as one of our “unalienable rights”, until we decide it’s our right to take it away.  And Liberty?  We still have more than an estimated 60,000 slaves in AMERICA today.

The pursuit of Happiness?

We seem to think it’s our right to just be happy.  We want nothing to do with the pursuit.   The hard, selfless and generous journey toward true Happiness is overshadowed by our pursuit of more.  More money, more stuff, more status, and more power.  Being happy is so much more than “having it all“.

Happiness is most often found in the lives of those who choose to give it all.  

I wonder what would happen if we spent some time thinking about what our Independence Day is supposed to represent, before we throw those lawn chairs out to watch the brilliant fireworks fill the night sky.

What if we focused our hearts on truly celebrating our equality?

What if we considered the immense value of human life?

What if we each committed to actively join the fight for freedom for all?

Each of those things are part of the pursuit of Happiness.

What if we pursued loving each other well as the path to true Happiness?

I think it’s a good place to start.

To more love,

Crystal