Freedom + Fun ≠ Happiness

Another thing that came up in that Institute class Thursday night was this interesting quote:

As New York Times columnist David Brooks said: “People are not better off when they are given maximum personal freedom to do what they want.They’re better off when they are enshrouded in commitments that transcend personal choice—commitments to family, God, craft and country.” (Quoted in Why Marriage and Family Matter - Everywhere in the World)

 In my own life, I've found that to be true. There are some days in which I do what I feel like doing. Other days, I do what I know I should do every day. At the end of the day, the days I feel best about are the ones on which I did what I had to do, not what I wanted to do. We have the freedom to carve out our own paths to happiness, yet those paths generally don't get us anywhere close to it. God knows the true path to happiness, and He encourages us to follow it. It's not a fun path, but the older I get, the more I learn that fun and true happiness have very little in common. You can find happiness and still have fun, but you can't pursue fun and still find happiness. At least, not in the places most people look for fun.

The way to true happiness takes commitment, but it's worth every commitment you have to make and keep. Those commitments are there to protect us. They keep us from the "fun" things that would detract from our happiness.