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“𝘞𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥’𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴.” 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗧𝗼 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘉𝘺 𝘈𝘥𝘦𝘭 𝘉. 𝘈𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳 Of all the vested rights —those that relate to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness — it is the last thing on the list that comes with an indispensable baggage. Unlike life and liberty, which are natural, unconditional incidents of birth, happiness is never guaranteed. Happiness is not for everybody to have every time. Being born human does not guarantee happiness as a birthright, but only, at best, the pursuit of happiness. That’s why history is replete with heartbreaking tales of pursuits that never came to fruition. The world is so full of luckless people chasing happiness, like it’s some kind of a life sentence to them that has become inescapable, a drudgery of a pursuit that would only end at the end of life itself. Few tales are more tragic than the heroic sacrifices that don’t beget a single moment of appreciation or the unrequited love left to perish in the cold cruelty of indifference. The thing about happiness is that not only does it take some difficulties to attain, but it’s also more valuable than the other two. You can have life and liberty all you want, but they don’t mean a thing without happiness. Sometimes, life and liberty are relegated as means to an end. We live life the way we want and sacrifice a lot of things just to be free because there’s no other way that we think we can be happy. Happiness is always among the very first in the core of man’s priorities, the deepest among our deepest desires, defining our purpose and destiny. And yet, just like life itself, happiness is such an irony. To get the most out of happiness, sometimes the secret is to keep it pure and simple, rather than complicate the idea of what makes us truly happy. In a sense, there’s so much that we can learn from the children, about their way of celebrating happiness with the least expectations. About finding joy and contentment with what we have rather than looking for things that are not around. Happiness is as basic to a child as one fine summer day at home when everyone in the family is present and there’s food on the table. If we can only look at the world with the eyes of the children, the corporate environment that makes us willing to die to get ahead in the race is just a metaphor for the games that we used to play as kids, but without the innocent thrills. The success that we feel like dying for is not as sweet as the candy bar we earned for good behavior as a reward in a different time and setting. We should refuse to grow old and hold on to the power of a child’s faith as a guiding light and inspiration for us to succeed in the pursuit of happiness. In the end, the pursuit of happiness is not a destination, but a way of living – a choice to find joy in the ordinary and to hold on to the pure, unguarded wonder we once knew as children. It is a reminder that true happiness often thrives in simplicity, in the warmth of family, the comfort of familiar laughter, and the beauty of a moment fully lived. If we can keep that childlike faith, embracing life’s uncertainties with open hearts, then perhaps we will find that happiness was never meant to be chased, but discovered in the very act of being alive.