happiness

You know, someone once told me that if there's one thing worth pursuing, it's your own happiness (in whatever form that may come). I thought that was incredibly profound. People who pursue money are often unhappy after becoming rich. The same could be said of people who pursue fame, education, etc. So shouldn't we pursuing that which makes us happiest?

Now, I find myself too easily caught up in the pursuit of my own happiness. I want to find a good fellowship next year, a good church, friends, etc. And when I think about it, I want these things to be happy? I need to remind myself that there is a reason that I am going to be where I am next year, and that my immediate happiness is secondary to that (even though I don't know what that is)?.

This is not to say that the pursuit of happiness is bad. But maybe some qualification is necessary?

On a side note, Obama's been trying to regulate executive pay at financial firms in order to reward long-term (rather than short-term) performance. People argue that executives deserve what they're paid based on their performance, but the incentives are currently such that short-term (and unsustainable) gains are preferred. I have this image in my mind (that could be totally off) of a cross between the St. Petersburg paradox and Russian Roulette. Anyway, whether Obama is going about this in the right way is debatable. But I feel that there's an analogy to be drawn to the pursuit of short-term (unsustainable) happiness vs. long-term happiness.