Happiness+(Experience)

Happiness (Experience) Happiness is the experience being accepted as the person who we really are apart from the superficial. This begins with self-acceptance. The greater the degree of intimacy in this acceptance means the greater the experience of happiness. To be in an intimate state of acceptance with the other is to be in communion with the other. Ultimately, we hope to experience the whole and perfect possession of unlimited life in the intimate acceptance of the **Communion of Saints**. In the interim, we can experience happiness in ways that are imperfect, incomplete and temporary. Limits that interfere with our happiness are inherent in the material universe bounded in time and space. Natural Limits mean that things in the material universe are changeable and scarce. Experiential Limits mean that in choosing one thing, we cannot choose other things. Limits disquiet the soul and prompt within us feelings of unhappiness such as aggravation, boredom, conflict, frustration, futility, ignorance, loneliness, loss, and pain. Although the experience of these limits is subjective, they impact all of us because they are conditions that are inherent to our stay in the material universe. These disquieting conditions remind us that we are out of sync with ourselves, others, nature, and God. This out-of-sync-ness is called **Original Sin** and it refers to the inherent estrangement in our selves that make us susceptible to a disquieted soul. Every human being has in principle the desire for **happiness**—the whole and perfect possession of unlimited life at once. To attain this we must live morally in response to **Grace**. Living morally means to live in accord with **Natural Law**.