As an apparent subscriber to TorahCafe (how on earth did they find me?), I receive weekly emails with entertaining and informative video clips on a slew of topics, generally related to Judaism or spirituality in some way. Last week I found "Happiness Is a Serious Problem" in my inbox: a video of a lecture by Dennis Prager, whose name I recognized from an assigned reading on the syllabus for the "Happiness" seminar I took (and loved!) in college.
Underlying his talk is the principle that a) it is a moral obligation, both to self and others, to be happy, and b) one must act happy in order to be happy, for happiness is a choice, not a happenstance.
Incidentally, the etymology of "happy" and "happenstance" is "happ," Old Norse for "good luck." Happiness was originally conceived of as a sensation that a person experienced if one was lucky; Prager, therefore, is really striking at the root of the concept of happiness itself, arguing that the sensation of happiness is one we can--and must--choose to undergo and embody, not one we experience only when fortune befalls us.
In a way, his take on happiness resonates with Zen Buddhism, for he rejects the idea that our mood should be like the Dow Jones, rising and falling in accordance with the arrival or departure of fortune. (Fortuna, in mythology, is the goddess of fortune; if you were lucky, she would bless you with her presence.)
In short, Prager says we must choose to be happy. His speech is lively, humorous, and frank, and serves as an excellent reminder for all of us not to let the whims of Fortune dictate our state of being.
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