Becoming Twice the Man He Used to Be (447)

On January 10, 2020, in Happiness, by Diocesan Staff

The headline caught my eye: “How One Man Went from Weighing 534 Lbs. to Being an Instagram Fitness Influencer.” These are the kind of things that pop up in our online news’ feeds these days, along with (and I swear I’m not making this up) “Venomous Snake Bites Nurse in Her Sleep: ‘I Thought the Dog Jumped on Me’,” and, of course of profound interest to me: “Is there anywhere the Reds can turn at Shortstop if they don’t land Francisco Lindor?” But I digress. Back to the 534 lbs. man.

Dustin Hall (the 534 lbs. man of the headline) had weight loss surgery, found a meal plan and exercise regimen he could stick to, and then lost 317 lbs. This was after years of fad diets, yoyoing in weight, and persistent health problems. I’m happy for him. I’m sure he feels better. He reports that as an automobile claim’s adjuster, he’s now able to do his job better. Since part of that job requires him to get up under cars to inspect damage, it was nearly impossible for him to do that before his dramatic weight loss. He also reports his spouse is happier with him, which is no small feat in any respect. So, he feels better, has less health problems, and can function with greater ease in the world. Good for him. And I mean that.

But like with any obstacle we finally overcome after struggling with it for a long time, we may well, upon overcoming it, think all our problems are now over. Even though it’s clear Mr. Hall is in a better place physically (and probably emotionally and spiritually as well), overcoming his weight problem won’t fix his life. It’ll make his life healthier and more manageable, but fix it, it won’t. And that’s the great lie our culture perpetuates constantly. If we just (and here we can fill in the blank), then we’ll be happy, content, fulfilled, admired, etc. “When I get the perfect job, meet my soulmate, live in a nicer house, get that one thing I’ve always desired, then all will be well for me and I’ll be happy then.” That’s the insidious, unwritten cultural law that props up our American “pursuit of happiness.” It’s really no different than if we found ourselves on a hamster wheel. We simply end up going “nowhere fast.” Because there’s no amount of fixing our lives that’ll buy what our culture seeks to sell us (if you doubt that then read the research on lottery winners who report they’re much more unhappy after winning the lottery).

All the research on happiness, contentment, whatever you want to call it, agrees with what we read in the Bible: It’s loving others and allowing others to love us (John 13:34). It’s offering compassion and mercy to others, even when (maybe especially when?) they are unaware we’re doing so (Luke 6:32-34). It’s focusing not on our own needs, but rather on the needs of others (Philippians 2:4). The more we learn about human happiness, the more the Biblical wisdom always proves itself to be true.

Again, I’m truly pleased for Mr. Hall and I wish him well in his life. He’s literally a new man (or, put another way, he’s less than half the man he used to be!). He hasn’t, however, solved for himself what it means to live a fulfilled life. To do that, he’ll hopefully open himself to becoming twice the man he used to be, and that’s possible only by God’s grace imputing in him a righteousness not his own.

+Scott

 
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Unhappily Addicted America (415)

On March 29, 2019, in addiction, Happiness, by bishopbenhase

The Beatles sang “Money Can’t Buy Me Love,” but apparently too many of us in the U.S. still think it should be able to do that. Well, maybe that’s going too far. But we do seem to believe that if money can’t buy us love, then at least it ought to be able to buy us above average happiness. Trouble is the data doesn’t reflect that correlation. It appears we Americans are becoming increasingly unhappy even while incomes rise. In fact, one’s personal level of wealth is a really poor indicator of happiness and that’s been true from a generation of data.

According to the World Happiness Report, an annual report produced by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, a U.N. initiative, the U.S. has dropped in its ranking once again, now slotting in at Number 19 overall out of 156 countries. This year the top three countries were again all Scandinavian (Finland, Denmark and Norway) with the bottom three were Afghanistan, Central African Republic and South Sudan. And the World Happiness Report isn’t the only source that shows our happiness decline. The annual General Social Survey, a completely separate report conducted only in the U.S., also reveals similar results.

“By most accounts, Americans should be happier now than ever,” reports Jean Twenge, a co-author of the World Happiness Report. “The violent crime rate is low, as is the unemployment rate. Income per capita has steadily grown over the last few decades.” So, what’s going on? The report indicated we should be particular concerned about younger people. “Happiness and life satisfaction among United States adolescents, which increased between 1991 and 2011, suddenly declined after 2012. Thus, by 2016-17, both adults and adolescents were reporting significantly less happiness than they had in the 2000s.” Clearly, low crime, low unemployment, and higher incomes hasn’t produced increased happiness. That means there are more important drivers for why people in the U.S. seem to have a growing level of unhappiness.

Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network and a co-author of the report, contends that the report may give us solid clues as to the problem. He says the U.S. is “a mass-addiction society.” He points out the growing opioid crisis, the ongoing trend toward chronic obesity among so many (which often is addictive behavior), and the increasing frequency of depression among young people, particularly ones who spend an inordinate time on electronic devices (also addictive). Sachs adds: “We keep chasing economic growth as the holy grail, but it’s not bringing well-being for our country. We should … stop our addiction to GDP growth as our sole or primary indicator of how we’re doing.”

Amen. GDP can’t buy us love, nor can the pharmaceutical numbing of pain (however needed). And neither can social media or another slice of cheesecake. And yet, we seem to chase all those options as if they could or should. The Gospel is still the Gospel and it’s as true today as it was 2000 years ago. We’ll not find happiness apart from it. When we learn to trust in Jesus’s work of redemption, we will discover where to locate true joy.

+Scott

 
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