SeniorWomen.com, In Pursuit of Happiness by Julia Sneden

Page Two of In Pursuit of Happiness

I recently went to a gymnastics competition where a grandson covered himself with glory. I don’t know how to define that particular kind of happiness. For him, of course, it was a matter of relief and payoff after a long time of training and effort and concentration. I found myself rejoicing in his well-earned pride: happiness, if you will, by proxy.

And then there are quick, mini-jolts of pleasure, occasioned by small things like seeing a dear friend’s handwriting on an envelope in your mailbox. Perhaps happiness is by nature a fleeting thing, but as Robert Frost said:

“Happiness makes up in height what it lacks in length.”

It’s not something that is sustainable for long periods, nor should it be, if only because if you were continuously happy, how would you know it? Without something against which to measure it (misery; pain; boredom; worry; anger; loneliness; illness) you’d be hard-put to recognize it.

All of this brings to mind Albert Schweitzer, who said:

“Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory.”

Reading that quote reminded me of a Danish doctor, who once said to me: “You Americans have great doctors and scientists, and good hospitals, but you don’t take care of your own people. Here in Denmark, the government gives us all good medical care. Your Declaration of Independence affirms that your citizens have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but if health maintenance isn’t a necessary part of pursuing happiness, what is?”

That exchange occurred in 1960, and it haunts me to this day. For many years, my health coverage was provided gratis by my employer, but in the 1990’s, the employees were suddenly required to pay a portion of the cost. Since then, that portion has increased almost every year, with concomitant lessening of the overall purchasing power of the workers’ salaries. People struggling to pay for health coverage while their disposable income is diminished may well find themselves going into debt. Perhaps we shouldn’t blame the country’s financial woes solely on the bankers after all.

We seniors have Medicare, and those who can afford it have supplemental insurance as well. But what of the rest of the country?

The divisiveness and rancor seen in Congress during the past few weeks is scandalous. How foolish must our elected representatives look to the rest of the world? For that matter, how do they look to us? Are they really going to let political rancor keep them from finding solutions? And is the healthcare industry (and it IS an industry) going to get away with preventing those solutions by the misuse of its power?

Surely our representatives, be they Republican or Democrat, can find a way to solve this conundrum. Our Congressmen/women must work together to find solutions. Until they do, the pursuit of happiness is in serious trouble.