I’m quite sure you've heard the phrase, “it’s not the destination, it’s the journey.” This phrase has been quoted and paraphrased in nearly every Kung Fu movie I ever watched involving a master talking to a student . It’s during the journey that we are able to find happiness. Ciardi, the author of the essay, ' What is Happiness' ?, states: “What the founding Fathers declared for us as an inherent right, we should do well to remember, was not happiness, but the pursuit of happiness.” This implies that the more difficult the journey we experience during our pursuit of happiness, the closer we are to becoming happy.

During Kung Fu movies, students must overcome overwhelming odds. The course of their journey may have students climbing up a steep mountain side, with flaming arrows being shot at them from below . Only to reach the top and face off with a gigantic, mystic creature that could end their lives with one swipe. By overcoming these obstacles the students finally gain the strength and maturity to over take their enemies stronghold. No Kung Fu movie is complete without ending with an epic, one on one, confrontation with their sworn enemy. In our culture, it’s improbable that we will encounter mythic beasts or flaming arrows. However, our pursuit for happiness still can’t be allowed to be to easy. Ciarrdi states that “there is no happiness except as we take on life engaging difficulties.”

In life, people seek happiness through their ongoing quest for pride, acceptance , or the envy of others. Advertisers, all too often take advantage, by always attempting to sell happiness. However, the truth is, once we’ve bought the item the ads are trying to sell , we’re still not going to be happy. Trying to buy happiness rather than earn it is just too easy.

During an ad for a popular commercial military jeep, a mother drives her son to school. The child proceeds to ask his mother to drive him all the way to the front of the school. Proud of the fact that her adolescent son isn’t embarrassed to have her drop him off in front of his peers, the mother happily obliges and waves goodbye. While waving back, the son looks at his peers as if he is the coolest kid on campus. Why? Because his family owns a Hummer.

Does the ad sound as if it’s trying to sell the consumers an off road military vehicle? Or does it sound like its trying to sell pride, acceptance ,and the envy of others? The truth is, even if the ad worked(and I’m sure it did on a very large part of the populace), the owner of the newly bought Hummer would’ve only felt those feelings for a very short period of time before buying the next “big thing” to give him or herself the same feelings. The advertiser just sold the allusion happiness . Only life owns things like adoration , envy, satisfaction, and pleasure.

How much more satisfied would mom have been if she’d worked on her child’s self esteem and earned the favor of her son’s peers? It would’ve been more work and taken a lot longer, but it would last a lifetime. Only then, would the mother and son have earned true happiness.

The next time you see an ad trying to sell you a new car, diet pills, or teeth whitener, Ask yourself: What’s the ad really selling? Can it really be bought? Or do you have to just earn it? The trip from your house to the store, or the struggle to get your wallet out of your pants, just isn’t a long or difficult enough of a journey to find the happiness we seek.