"…time, space and boredom/ Are just passing fads./ All your pain, worry, sorrow/ Will someday apologize and confess/ They were a great lie."  -Hafiz (1320-1389)

Did Thomas Jefferson unintentionally shunt us onto the wrong track in the Declaration of Independence when he argued our right to "the pursuit of happiness?" Can happiness be "caught" for any longer than a few moments?

   Perhaps, I have always misunderstood the concept. Every time I recall a glad moment I simultaneously remember noticing its opposite crowding in to tell me that my happiness would flee – that soon it would head off on the wings of the same blue bird that brought it by and tempted me with its sweet scent.

   It's difficult to think of happiness without matching it against what isn't. And no sooner do I find myself in melancholy when some well-meaning soul will remind me that that moment, also, will amble away.

   Hafiz tells us this when he writes that "…time, space and  boredom are just passing fads."

   What about serenity? My now-ancient (99 years old) mother (above left) lives from peaceful energy. She celebrates happy moments but her lifelong grace does not depend on them.  

   Her life is anchored deeper. She spends no time worrying about how much more "time" she may have in this world. She knows that kind of worry simply poisons the present

   When her daytime caregivers wonder about the "secret" location of her key to happiness, I can only think that her joy lives in the mansion of her serenity.

   Mood is a bouncing ball. The moment we try to grab the happy peak it slips from our hands.

   For those grounded in serenity every moment may not be fun but life itself is always rich. Instead of grieving the past or worrying about the future, their serenity gives them the gift of grace in every present.

   How can caregivers be "happy" everyday when they are surrounded by illness and pain? It is those who cultivate peace and serenity who are the ones that provide care from the deepest chamber of their hearts.

   They are the fortunate and the wise. They know that serenity comes to those who live Love, not fear. 

-Erie Chapman