a meditation on happiness...sort of

They never told us how. All they told us was that it was our inalienable right. They said we could chase it, pursue it, claim it for our own. But they never told us how. Or even why. I mean, why should we be happy? Why is that important? What is it about human nature that desires, that even requires this feeling of pleasure, this sensation of contentment? But they continued to insist: “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” was a truth self-evident, a right inalienable. So we were told. So we believed.