Faced with the various "negative" events that have devastated Humanity, thousands of individuals are (as warriors) in the paths of the unrighteousness that permeates social life. Such a situation makes it appear that the questioning above goes from a simple question, or a simple doubt, to an assertion.

And this statement has gained momentum in our day to day, precisely because we receive information supported by ideas that make us think that only difficulties are yet to come! And this leads us, obviously, to negative interpretations, to misunderstandings about life, even regarding what is (or can be) happiness. One might even think that it does not really exist in a society that has such serious moral wounds.

Even considering all this negativism, various sects, religions and doctrines, such as Spiritism itself, seem to be on the "counter-side" of this issue that is stated in people's daily lives. Now, on the contrary, by the fact that while events insist on putting into our minds that happiness seems to be an unattainable state, the foundations, intellectual and moral postures, the set of principles of these fields, which believe in a higher being , seem to point to a certainty: yes, happiness exists and it can be attained!

But I would like to call attention to Spiritism, especially for two points that, in my opinion, are fundamental to feel / experience the much acclaimed happiness: the responsibility we have about ourselves regarding life and the relation between having versus being.

The Doctrine of the Spirits (being of a philosophical-religious feature) makes us think about the purpose of these two aspects, how significant they are to understand human existence itself. We can only, therefore, feel / live happiness by becoming aware of ourselves (even if only a little), our existential sense.

Let's start with becoming responsible. With Spiritism we see how much we need to face ourselves regarding life and how much this (self) examination has the power to transform our daily life, to change the script of our life story. Perhaps that is why Allan Kardec says in his work Spiritism in its simplest expression (2016: page 26) that:

With this knowledge [about Spiritism, about our existence, about ourselves that] we can know what our condition of happiness or unhappiness in the future life will be, as well as the cause of our present sufferings, and the way of relieving them.

In the course of the Spiritist study, serious discussions are carried out by Allan Kardec, subsidized by Spirits who, throughout their works, unveil, announce and denounce at the same time a new point of view: we are the result of our own choices; that is, we are architects of our fate. That is why in order to change ourselves we must first become aware of ourselves.

Therefore, we cannot look at our life innocently; we, ourselves, with our own hands, built our present. Our present life, in a silent way, shows the shadows and enlightenment of our past attitudes and choices. Therefore, our past becomes alive in the present, and it is now in our present life that we will undoubtedly build our future.

This knowledge lights up our lives - as spotlights - with an intense light that makes us understand why we like or dislike, of our suffering and consequently of our happiness. So nothing is by chance. We do not get good things or bad things out of nowhere.

So if we are a result of our own (un) thoughtful choices, it is an absurd to imagine that we are not at all responsible for our happiness. Yes, we are. If we accept that regarding our lives we are responsible for what we have and for what we reap, it would not be bold at all to say that happiness is, yes, an attainable state, since it depends on us.

And by assuming this paradigm as a truth, we will no longer be "deceived" that happiness will simply be given to us or found in ephemeral situations, after all: Who can receive a (high) salary before much work? Which student goes on a college entrance examination and a competition without several hours of dedication and study? Which house begins its construction by the roof? Which runner reaches the finish line with just one step?

We are responsible for all that happens to us by our daily attitudes. We must urgently stop blaming the other (neighbor, boss, brother, wife, husband...) to assume our own responsibility to the difficulties of life. And this is so true that Allan Kardec, in his work What is Spiritism (page 151), answer to question 100, the Encoder clarifies us when he says that: 

... The souls who manifest themselves reveal to us their joys or their sufferings, according to the manner in which they have used their earthly life-time; this is a proof of future punishments and rewards.

Now, this example is linked to the idea of ​​self-responsibility, but, of course, it is also related to the facing of oneself, and these are two completely different things. Maybe the latter might be the hardest thing to do.

At this point it is clear that happiness can only be achieved with much effort, with great changes, because it is a constant building of our inner state. And this change is not in the other, it is not in our job; it is not in looking for uncontrolled pleasures that only refresh our sorrows for a moment. This change is in us, in better choices, in more assertive positions.

And by improving ourselves, no longer will we experience the tendency to mistake moments of pleasure - which we only deserve here on Earth - with happiness. Who knows, it is for this reason that Allan Kardec says that happiness is not of this world, as he states in The Gospel According to Spiritism, Chapter V, item 20 (2013, page 92). Well, I think that if the regenerating worlds represent the dawn of perfect happiness, and we are still at the stage of atonement and trials, it is evident that constant happiness is still to come, but it is up to us to, each day, try to more and more reach that purpose or to stand still. (KARDEC, 2013, page 64).

Would I be here defending the impossibility of being happy on Earth? No way. Let's see, Divaldo Franco, in the Transition Program, on November 14, 2010, part 1-2, he helps us to think about this issue by saying that:

[...] we live in a relative world and happiness would be a permanent grandeur. Since we live in the relative, we live in the unstable. Happiness must be stable. Then, why does this relativity exist? It is because we mistake pleasure for happiness.

In this explanation it is possible to analyze that full happiness is not of this world, but begins in it; it is not just a promise. It is real and can be achieved; but only by those who are, as authors of their own history, conquerors of this state.

In addition, Divaldo Franco goes on to explain that the confusion we make between pleasure and happiness may be related to the enslavement of our ideas to fleeting things. An example of this is that for many of us, happiness is still related to having and not having: I want to be successful, I want to be married, I want to have a big house, and I want to have a beautiful body...

Here comes the question of having versus being. We have to be alert to this in order not to become a slave to having (we want to have a good job, to succeed, to have someone to love, to be healthy, to have a comfortable home, a car, i.e., to have, to have, to have and to have ) to understand that we must "be" before we have.

We can buy everything we want, but with an unenlightened way of looking at the essence of life, and if we only worry about the “to have”, it is obvious that we will be far from generating the mechanism we call happiness. Proof of this is in our daily life. The number of suicides, of depressives, of anxious creatures is higher every day. There are people who have a wonderful car, a beautiful house, a wife or an affectionate husband, but who are still not happy.

In the same manner as inner reeducation, perhaps this process takes hours, days, years and (re) incarnations, but this is not important. Let's not worry about speed, but about quality. Allan Kardec helps us remember in The Book of Spirits (2004, page 456), in his comments on question 798, that progress takes time; things will never be changed suddenly.

The urgency of a new way of seeing things knocks at our door. Let's move forward, let's change our attitude, and reset our tastes, ways, and affections. I do believe that our way of seeing happiness will change too.

Moreover, there is no specific recipe for all this, but there is a way, a direction. Jesus, and the Apostles (and many others, who came before Him, and prepared everything for His coming), just as Kardec and many others, who came after the Encoder himself, did their part to alert us. As for us, what did we do? Did we do the same?

With the knowledge about life, and about our existence, added to our will power, the "facilitator" of ideas, Spiritism, serves as a compass to point out possible paths that lead us to a way of generating an openness, first in our way of looking, then in our consciousness so that one day (not too far away), we return to the practice of a better experience for ourselves and, consequently, for the other, i.e., our neighbor.

In short, let us pay attention to the responsibility we have with ourselves and thereby work to achieve our happiness in small things, for our moral improvement. When I use the possessive pronoun "our" it is precisely because no one is responsible for whom we are, for what we feel and for what we have become. Let us study to grow intellectually and morally.

Let's stop sabotaging ourselves, boycotting our own chances. Let us be good towards ourselves, recognizing our limits, freeing ourselves from our imperfections. Thus, as well as developing socially, it will be possible to see that the struggle for our dreams is not in vain and that surely each of us can be better today than yesterday. Believe me, this personal sacrifice is nontransferable, but it will help us to progress, beginning with the awareness that we are the heroes, but also the tormentors of our own trajectory. And in assuming this position, without depending psychologically on the other, the materialization of this divine feeling that is happiness will no longer be in the hands of anyone, in a moment or in a material good; it will be pulsing in our hearts.

[1] I write Spiritism with a capital letter because I consider it, above all, s Science, especially due to its features, its paths that were led by Allan Kardec (pseudonym).