Detached. T.J. Burdick

at the sum of their physical and emotional feelings. True happiness goes beyond feeling or emotion. True joy is found in the soul.

      The Catholic Definition of Happiness

      According to Saint Thomas Aquinas, medieval scholar and Doctor of the Church, there are four levels of happiness, each of which can be mistaken for true, final happiness.

       Natural Wealth

      This level of happiness consists in possessing the basic needs that satisfy human survival as provided by nature. Food, drink, and shelter fit into this category, among other things. People who think they find happiness in this level believe that tasty food and drink and large elegant homes are the source of their joy. They fit as much on their plate as possible and stuff themselves to the point of gluttony in order to fall asleep in their king-sized beds, waking up only to do the same thing again the next day. Nature itself tells us that natural wealth can’t be true joy, because after a certain point the body will refuse to take in another morsel and rebel through sickness and sloth. This is the shallowest form of happiness.

       Artificial Wealth

      If you lived before the implementation of money, you and your community would have traded resources such as cattle, land, cloth, etc. He who had the most resources was considered the wealthiest person. This person would gather wealth and, to a certain extent, you could say this person was happy; but, as it is true with money today, the feeling would be fleeting. Gathering artificial wealth (“artificial” in the sense of “manufactured or produced”) is conditional. The more you have, the more difficult it becomes to sustain, because the future is always unknown.

      For example, you might own a rather large plot of land along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean on which you have built several hotel chains and restaurants, a seemingly unstoppable flow of income. But if a natural disaster such as a hurricane hits the coast, or if the stock market crashes, all of that money you saved will be needed simply to rebuild. Artificial wealth creates a kind of psychologically deceptive happiness. It makes us believe that we are secure in a particular level of luxury. It produces a false security and a dependence on things, which ultimately leads us to yearn for something more, something greater than just things.

      Interestingly, we see this idea of artificial wealth manifested every time a new device, especially if it is a phone, is unveiled to the public. People from all over the world stand in lines for days hoping they will be one of the first to shell over hundreds of dollars and unbox this new technology that will make their lives equally, if not more, distractible than the “older” version they currently hold in their pocket. This, and all forms of artificial wealth, do provide a certain degree of happiness, but it too is fleeting.

       Honors and Glory

      Honor and glory can be defined as the giving or receiving of accolades based upon acts made by people that are judged by society as worthy of praise. For example, when soldiers return home from war and receive a medal of honor, they are praised by the government for their acts of heroism. Or when musical artists win a Grammy, they are praised by the recording industry for their creativity in song.

      When we seek happiness through honors, we inch closer to true happiness, but we inevitably fall short. When we recognize a particular good in another person, or when others recognize a particular good in us, we are doing something admirable. In fact, when you are the person being honored, this feeling of accomplishment can be life-changing and, depending on the good act, even world-changing.

      The problem with happiness achieved through giving and receiving honor is twofold. First, sometimes the act that merits recognition was not done willfully, but on accident. People who receive honors merely for being in the right place at the right time, or simply for being popular, reasonably feel a sense of unworthiness for their “accolade” because they never meant to do it in the first place. This is surely the exception to the norm, but nevertheless, it is brought up here to illustrate the defect in the argument for happiness through honors.

      Second, the people who receive the honor live many other aspects of their lives as sinners. Granted this does not diminish the happiness they feel from their acts which are deserving of praise, but they still have room to grow in their potential for personal excellence. They still lack what they need to be truly fulfilled.