Is Happiness a Birthright?

What a question!! My contention is simple yet complex at the same time. I do believe our birthright is to live a happy life with joy in all we do. That does not mean we are happy all the time. It does mean that if we are contented with our lives as they are, then we will be happy people.
Here is an excerpt from my forthcoming book Take a Chance on Being Happy. I hope you will enjoy this chapter from the book showing that happiness is the normal and natural lifestyle for all human beings.

The Western idea of happiness is the result of more than 2,500 years of philosophy, psychology, speculation, and discussion about its meanings and sources. This key to happiness has hardly changed from Aristotle in 340 B.C. to today's thinkers, speakers, and writers. It is the same for virtually all men and women in every country and all walks of life.
I would even say that people have written about the power of a positive mindset as far back as five millennia. For example, the Biblical Books within the Hebrew Canon often advise living life to its fullest by serving the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Those manuscripts contain advice on living, serving, and getting along with people around you. And so many of those passages continue to help humans today.
Here are a few examples:
1. "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
2. "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him." - Psalm 28:7
3. "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." - Romans 15:13
4. "Though you have not seen him, you love him; even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy." - 1 Peter 1:8
5. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:6-7
6. "You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast because they trust in you." - Isaiah 26:3
7. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." - Galatians 5:22-23
These verses offer encouragement and guidance for finding happiness, joy, and peace of mind through faith and trust in God.
Thus, the key to happiness is this: Dedicate yourself to developing your natural talents and abilities by doing what you love and doing it better and better in the service of a cause greater than yourself.
This is a big statement and a big commitment. Being happy requires defining your life on your terms and then throwing your whole heart into living your life to the fullest. In a way, happiness requires being perfectly selfish to develop yourself to a point where you can be unselfish for the rest of your life.
In Edmond Rostand’s Play Cyrano de Bergerac, Cyrano is asked why he is so intensely individualistic and unconcerned with the opinions and judgments of others. He replies with these wonderful words: “I am what I am because early in life, I decided that I would please at least myself in all things.”
Your happiness likewise depends upon your ability to please at least yourself. However, most people are reluctant to use their happiness as the standard to judge life events. This is primarily because we let others define or affect what brings us happiness. And we often believe it is more important to make other people happy than to make ourselves happy. This is nonsense.
Human beings are happiness-driven organisms. Everything we do in life is oriented toward maintaining and increasing our happiness. We are psychologically constructed so that we can't be any other way without making ourselves mentally and emotionally ill. The fact is that you can’t give away to anyone else what you don’t have for yourself. Just as you can’t give money to the poor if you don’t have any, you can’t make someone else happy if you are miserable.
Make happiness the organizing principle of your life. That is, compare every possible action and decision against your standard of happiness to see whether it would make you happier or unhappier. Soon, you will discover that almost all the problems in your life come from choices that you have made — or are currently making — that do not contribute to your happiness.
Of course, there will be countless times when you have to do those things that don’t make you happy in pursuit of your larger happiness. However, as Earl Nightingale said, “Happiness is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.” You feel happy only when you move, step-by-step, toward accomplishing clearly defined goals that will enhance your happiness.
Since you can’t be truly happy until you are clear about your inherent possibilities, you must regularly analyze yourself and identify your strengths and weaknesses. There is an old saying, “Success leaves tracks.”
You can look back on your life and identify who you are and what you should be doing with your life. One of the best ways to do this is to constantly ask yourself this powerful question: “WHAT ONE GREAT THING WOULD I DARE TO DREAM IF I KNEW I COULD NOT FAIL?”
Imagine that you are guaranteed success in pursuing a goal, big or small, short-term or long-term. Imagine you have all the money, time, education, contacts, resources, and everything else you could need to achieve any big goal in life. What would it be?
This is a very important question because when you remove the limitation from your thinking, you often get a clear idea of exactly what you should be doing with your life. Your greatest dream is an indication of your natural abilities and of what is important to you.
All successful men and women are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work daily toward their distant vision, goal, or purpose. Step-by-step realization of their ideal makes them genuinely happy.
Dr. Viktor Frankl, who wrote the book Man’s Search for Meaning, said that you can divide the things you do in life into four categories.
The first category consists of the things that are hard to learn and hard to do. An example for many people is mathematics. Many of us struggled with math in school and still struggled with bookkeeping, accounting, financial statements, and tax returns as adults. If you find mathematics hard to learn and do, this is the sort of activity for which you are unsuited. No matter how much of it you do or how good you get at it, you will never achieve any lasting satisfaction or happiness.
The next category consists of things that are hard to learn but easy to do. Riding a bicycle, driving a car, and tying your shoes are hard to learn but easy to do once you’ve practiced enough. These are seldom the sort of activities that cause you to feel terrific about yourself when you engage in them. They do not demand your best.
The third category consists of things that are easy to learn but hard to do. Physical labor falls into this category. Digging a ditch with a shovel and chopping wood with an ax are easy to learn, but they are hard to do and never get any easier.
The fourth category is the key. These are things that are easy to learn and easy to do. You seem to have a natural proclivity for them. When you are engaged in this sort of activity, time flies. The things that are easy for you to learn and do are what you should be doing with your life.
Looking closely at these categories can help you discover your natural talents and abilities. Engaging in these activities wholeheartedly and committing yourself to improving will give you all the joy, satisfaction, and happiness you could ever want.