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About two weeks ago I received an email that I had not gotten an internship that I had wanted for a while. In that moment, that email of rejection hurt. I immediately called my friend Kara Beth and began to talk about that rejection. In that moment, she let me know that it would be ok and to think about everything I already have. Less than 30 minutes later, I picked up the reading for a class that I would have just a few hours later. I flipped to a random page as I began my final preparation for class. Within the first few pages, after a comparison of human to animal, the book reads “I am, like him, pained with want, but am not, like him, satisfied with fulness.” I was speechless when I read this, as it was exactly what I had needed to read in that moment. I am
constantly achieving for a higher bar, forgetting what I currently have.
I am blessed with what I have. I have a family that is there to love and support me no matter what. I know that they are proud of what I am doing. I have friends that are there with me every step of the way to congratulate and console. I have brothers in SigEp that I know I can
always turn to and count on if I am falling behind. I have been to concerts and traveled all across the country and internationally. I have interacted with people ranging from rappers to Senators. To say I have lived a blessed life would be an understatement.
I don’t highlight these aspects of my life to brag. I highlight them to ask the question that
remains in my head. When I have so much, why is it that I am always yearning for more? One
would think that someone with what I have would be content to maintain what is current and not
think about more, yet I can’t seem to shake the thought of something more. One immediate
thought in my head was “am I having a mid-life crisis at 20?” While I ruled that one out, the
bigger question still looms. Is it unnatural or wrong to wish for more as someone that already has
so much?
This question has been on my mind for the better half of two weeks as I grasp what to
think about it. I brought this question up in class to see if anyone else had also gravitated toward
this quote. Happiness is not something that is easily answered. There is not one complete answer
to that question. Happiness is more of a journey than anything. In the story, Rasselas encounters
many individuals from different walks of life on his journey to find the secret to happiness.
Rasselas is a crown prince that has been given everything he desires, yet he feels there is
something more out there. He encounters a philosopher who feels he can find happiness through
reason and logic. One tragic event and he breaks down. He then finds a hermit who withdrew
from society to find solitary peace and happiness. Even he now longs for company again. No
matter where Rasselas goes, he knows that there is not one specific answer to or lifestyle for
happiness; rather, a combination of multiple aspects from those lifestyles that can be combined
with the good and bad.
To come back to the original question, is it unnatural or wrong to wish for more as
someone that already has so much? I don’t think so. It is human nature to have desire for more.
While I am blessed with what I have, that desire for more gives me hope. All of us consistently
wish for more. That more, in most cases, is happiness of some kind. The search for pure perfect
happiness is a never ending journey on Earth, and we will be searching so long as we are alive. I
don’t look at that in a negative way. Wanting more does not erase what I already have; rather, it
means I am still moving forward on my journey. I am blessed with what I have and not a day
goes by that I am not grateful for what I have. The point of this blog is not to be a
debbie-downer, but to recognize that pure happiness is not a singular thing. It is a journey that we
are on. I remain on that journey toward pure, perfect happiness alongside everybody else.
Seth is a McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville in the class of 2027. He is studying political science and urban studies.