How Much for Happiness?

While I'm waiting for the full texts of the General Conference talks to be released, I can still blog about Sister Becky Craven's experience with the shop that advertises Happiness on sale for only $15. This is, by any measurement, a ridiculous price for happiness because happiness is simultaneously priceless, costly, and free.

Happiness is priceless by its very nature. The aim of human existence and all human endeavor is happiness. Whenever anyone does anything, they are doing it because they believe it will make them happy. I would guess that even God, who only ever does anything for our benefit, is also driven by happiness, and not just ours. He promotes our eternal happiness because (or at least partially because) our happiness is His happiness. When we are truly happy, so is He. Every sentient creature seeks happiness, and since the demand for happiness is so ludicrously high, the law of supply and demand insists that the price of happiness be high as well.

And it is. The price of any good can be measured by the number of hours one must work to pay for it. If someone who earns $10 an hour (after taxes) wants to buy something that costs $10 (also after taxes), that item will cost that person one hour of work. Similarly, anything that takes time and effort to obtain "costs" that amount of time and effort. By this measure, fleeting happiness is as cheap as enjoying some pleasant experience, while ultimate happiness is arguably the most expensive prize in existence. Ultimate happiness is experienced only by those who gain Eternal Life, and Eternal Life is obtained only by those who have become perfect. As anyone who has ever tried can tell you, becoming perfect at anything takes a while. Becoming a perfect person takes especially long. By the measure of the sheer amount of time and effort it takes to gain true happiness, happiness is terribly expensive.

Yet, by the measure of how much money it costs, happiness is basically free. Happiness isn't for sale. However, one still might have to spend money to get happiness. Happiness comes as a result of keeping the commandments, which include the Law of Tithing. If one has money, one has to pay at least a tenth of it to God in order to keep all of His commandments, which one has to do to earn ultimate happiness. Yet, if one has money, that money was a gift from God, if for no other reason than that money was earned using the time and bodies God gave us for free. Our bodies were free, so the money we earn with them is also free, as is the happiness which we can supposedly buy with the free money we "earned" by using our free bodies. Besides, both our bodies and our money is only borrowed anyway; we can't take them with us when we pass on. So even if we have to buy happiness, we can buy it using money we were just going to lose anyway.

So, despite being the most sought-after prize in existence, and despite the countless hours of work that has to go into obtaining it, happiness is actually free, since it can be bought with borrowed time and money. Happiness is, paradoxically simultaneously priceless, costly, and free. One thing's for sure, though: you definitely cannot buy happiness at a store for $15.