What is the defining characteristic of this era we are living in?  A profound spiritual crisis: a crisis of intelligence, of religious faith, and, consequently, a crisis of behavior and moral life.  My intention, as the title of this article suggests, is  to offer some reflections on that longed-for universal state called happiness.  My professional work as a physician specializing in addictions makes this a subject I am passionate about.  Mending the pieces of broken lives, attempting to channel so much pain toward personal growth, toward healing the damage done, and granting the possibility of a meaningful life, is neither an easy nor a short task.

You, who against all odds continue to read me, may not be suffering political persecution, nor have you fallen into the clutches of drugs; you may even be able to afford air conditioning.  Let’s suppose you meet a series of conditions that make you a candidate for enjoying a certain degree of happiness: health, money, love. Could that be the secret?

Health is a given, or not, and we are responsible for maintaining it, but sooner or later, we will experience a sudden or gradual decline. It’s a bad idea to entrust our happiness to such a vulnerable contingency. However,  you don’t hesitate to dedicate significant portions of your time to building muscle, tanning your skin, eating healthily, and cultivating your appearance.  You are aware of the impossibility of enjoying a solid self-image and self-esteem  without personal care, which usually requires costly changes in habits or sacrificing family time . We are faced with an undeniable myth for a large part of today’s society, both wealthy and less so, and there is no room for reasonable discussion.

In reality, any of the many honest assumptions we might want to associate with the word “happiness” would add up. Or not.  Let’s choose love. We arrive genetically programmed to be desired and to desire. We are loved, not for our physical appearance, nor for our successes, nor for our size, but simply for having managed to set foot in this life. I stand corrected: we are already loved before we are born, all of us without exception.

In a healthy world  —ours is no longer one—  the concept of love was synonymous with the capacity for commitment; today it is linked to utility. We love to the extent that the act of loving provides pleasurable sensations, an absence of complications; we take advantage of love for our own benefit. We are unaware of its true meaning: selflessness.  We all witness the abandonment of families or friends who were there for us as long as they didn’t cause any trouble: when difficulties arise, there is no shortage of excuses to delegate our care to others.

Love has ceased to be an interpersonal relationship, the highest form of expression, and has degraded into something fleeting and irrelevant. I love you because I like you, and I’ll stop loving you when I no longer feel anything for you.  In every trashy television program, in every kind of sex education in schools, our children are systematically infected with the idolization of sensations: feel, experience. And if you stop feeling, seek more intense stimuli.

It seems I’ve strayed too far from the topic because you wanted a personal, easy-to-implement, good, nice, and cheap answer. I’m sorry, it doesn’t exist.  There are techniques for learning to resolve conflicts, manage stress, train your thinking, and increase your ability to adapt to tax increases.  But no one can give meaning to your life. I have nothing personal against you, but I can’t make things easier for you.

Intelligence Crisis. How long has it been since you tried to think for yourself, to have your own well-founded opinions, to challenge the status quo, to go against the grain?  Educate yourself properly. Join groups that defend your principles; don’t isolate yourself. And be assertive, react now, don’t be intimidated, make others think. But  first, convince them by example.

The destruction of reason gives way to the entrenchment of lies in our lives.  And what is truth? Does that ring a bell?  There is no greater violence than the establishment of lies in our consciences . The consequence:  an entire civilization teeters without moral resources.  Happiness is impossible without an awareness of the truth.  And if we are denied access to the truth, how consistent will our choices be? We will never be free again.

I have deliberately avoided using any argument that doesn’t fit within simple and pure human anthropology. I would like to conclude by addressing a third aspect of the spiritual crisis in the West:  the loss of faith—that faith which gives transcendence to our lives insofar as it is alive and fosters a personal encounter with the Person who showed us the path to happiness . That faith which allows us to walk without fear of life and without fear of death.

On the way to Galilee, Jesus sat down to rest by a well. The Gospel (John 4:9-14) recounts that he was tired from his journey and asked a Samaritan woman who came to draw water for a drink.  A dialogue ensued in which Jesus promised her water that would make anyone who drank it never thirst again. Today, as then,  we remain thirsty, and many continue to try to quench their thirst in stagnant pools. Let those who have ears, hear.

Damián Martín Rubio. Doctor

Source:  ABC de Sevilla Opinion Column