The Perennial Search

By Jonathan Shih

   In one way or another, whether we admit it or not, we have all searched for something. We searched the classifieds and the internet for a job, and when we do find a job, we search again praying the next one would be better. We searched for our flip flops when we wake up in the morning. We searched for the soap in the bathroom. We searched for our belt, our wristwatch, the mirror when we have to go out in the town. We searched for change when we ride the bus. We searched for a partner in life, someone we can grow old with. We searched for a friend in Facebook. We searched for true friends. We searched for a soul mate. We searched for someone to play with as a kid. In school, we searched for our pencil and paper when the teacher gives a test. In high school, we searched for the answers for the exams. We searched for a break in our busy schedule. We searched for a good book to read, a nice apartment, a promotion, a good place to eat lunch, a nice gift for someone’s birthday, a nice vacation spot, someone to talk to, somebody to laugh with, to cry with, to go to the movies on weekends, a new lease on life, a good night’s sleep, a decent pen to write with, a nice long nap, and the list goes on.

  Where am I getting at? What am I trying to say? Large or small, consciously or unconsciously, serious or down right humorous, we have all searched for something. But is there something we have searched for but haven’t found it yet? More than material things, more than the physical aspects of life, more than the trivial nonsense we drag ourselves into. Is there? What about happiness? Think about it, when was the last time you were genuinely happy? Is happiness too, one of the things we search for in our daily grind in life? I suppose so. We all want to be happy, we can all agree on that. But is happiness somehow an elusive search? A perennial quest for the unsearchable. Maybe it is, maybe it’s not. What makes one happy then? When the paycheck comes? When the day is over and tomorrow’s the weekend? When you get the promotion you worked hard for? When the girl your courting finally says yes? When the guy you like smiles at you? When the sun is shining? When you get together with your friends for the night out? When you passed the board? When you watch your favorite TV show? And the list goes on again.

  Ironically, when we do get happy, one way or another, is it permanent or does it go away the second the dark clouds of life block out the sunshine? Does it disappear the moment you awoke and had to face the reality of life once more? Is happiness then a temporal thing? An elusive longing for something better, something more meaningful?

  Do we yearn happiness so much that it escapes our grasp? Does our circumstance determine our so called happiness? Does happiness depend on happenings? Is there more to it than this? Has happiness been an elusive quest after all? Like the fountain of youth, and the cure for AIDS and Cancer?

 

  But admittedly, we all became happy, at least once in this life. Even for a moment, even for a brief instant when you woke up in the morning and you’re still breathing. You’re alive and ready to face another day of another chapter of your life. When you somehow managed to make it through a rough day when everything seems to go wrong. When you hear your favorite song on the radio and you reminisce on the good old days. When you don’t have a job but heck, it’s not the end of civilization as we know it. When you help an old lady cross the street. When you get an e-mail from a friend you haven’t seen in a long time. When you receive an inspirational quote from someone. When you’re in a slump and someone tells you hey, don’t worry, that’s life. When you don’t have a special someone but hey, God loves you. When you feel that life seem to suck but you’re not the only one. And the list goes on again…