Do what makes me happy or do what is right? Reflections on the beginning of a New Year

Do whatever makes you happy. This mantra, innocuous as it seems, contains within it dangerous possibilities. And because of its popular use, it seems to be a common advice people give to people of various ages and in various circumstances. But I would liken this advice to selling fake drugs. It does no good; rather it cause harm to the recipient. This saying has bred a generation of selfish, arrogant and entitled people whose only interest is their happiness, no matter what it takes. Sometimes parents advise their teenagers, or even young adults, to do whatever makes them happy when they do not want to have difficult or adult conversations with them. Couples who are struggling with their marriages and considering divorce are told to do whatever makes them happy instead of helping them see the sanctity of the marriage institution and finding ways around their marital issues. Unwed young women caught in difficult and unplanned pregnancies are told to do whatever makes them happy, even if that means terminating the innocent and harmless lives of their unborn babies. In the same vein, young men who live recklessly and get these young girls pregnant are told to do whatever makes them happy, and the cycle of senseless and selfish decisions and actions continues unending. It seems safe to say those words to a person who would not listen to sound advice anyway, and you want to dismiss them without giving offense.

To tell someone to do whatever makes them happy opens a Pandora’s Box of possibilities. People could pursue their own happiness at all cost, regardless of whether that leaves others unhappy. Before you do what makes you happy, have you sat down to reflect on whether what you are about to do, that makes you happy, is legal, moral, godly or beneficial for you or others on the long run? There are choices we make that only give in-the-moment -happiness, temporary or quick fixes, but end up destroying us or even sabotaging our futures. Take for example, if what makes me happy is to appropriate for myself the goods or spouses of others, does that mean I should go ahead and do that? If acquiring wealth makes me happy, do I have to seek it at all cost, even by illegal means? If my happiness consists in having my way all the time, does that make it right?

My take? Do not just do what makes you happy; do what is right.
Do what is godly. Do what makes for peace and harmony in society. Do what brings good, not only to yourself, but to others. Sacred Scripture records only a few sayings of the Blessed Mother. One of the most apt is, “Do whatever He tells you” (John 2: 5). As you make your New Year resolutions and set goals, please, listen to what Jesus is saying to your heart. He speaks. If you listen, you will hear him. Do not only pursue temporal happiness, or feelings that only last for a moment, but pursue joy, which would endure even when time in this world ceases. Remember, happiness is not an absolute. To pursue it without reference to God would be selfdestructive.

Happy Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord!