8/9/2019 10 Tips to Happiness

1/2

The Pope's 10 tips for happiness

Just when I thought my amazement with Pope Francis had run its course, he did it again. In a long

interiew with an old friend who was writing for an !rgentine magazine, the popeput forward a 10-

point plan for happiness. From where I sit, it seems, well, pretty damn good if not perfect. "ere

are Pope Francis' tips for a happy life and my comments on them#

1. $ie and let lie. It's an echo of the Pope's earlier remar% on gays# &ho am I to (udge)&

*oreoer, it's what Jesus said in the +ermon on the *ount# &Judge not, unless you want to e

(udged yourself.& -*atthew #1/

. ie yourself to others. That is, gie your money and your time to those in need. 2on't (ust sit

around li%e stagnant water. ie all you hae and then some.

3 *oe 4uietly in the world. The Pope 4uotes from a faorite noel y an early 0th5century

!rgentine writer, 6icardo uiraldes, in which the noelist writes that in one's youth, a person is &a

roc%y stream that runs oer eerything,& ut as one gets older, one ecomes &a running rier, 4uietly

peaceful.& It's ery li%e theNative American suggestionthat one should wal% &in alance and

eauty& on the ground, ma%ing the least disturance.

7. 8n(oy leisure. The Pope says that consumerism has rought with it unearale an9ieties. +o play

with your children. Ta%e time off. !nd don't spend all your time thin%ing aout your ne9t ac4uisition.

+pend your time well, not your money.

:. +unday is for families. This is actually one of the Ten ;ommandments. "onor the +aath.

-89odus 0#. Find (os for young people. ho would hae guessed that (o5creation would e on list for

happiness) ?ut the Pope is right. "onest, simple wor% for young people is essential to their well5

eing. +omewhat surprisingly, in this moment in the interiew, the Pope connected (o creation to

the degradation of our enironment# &the tyrannical use of nature.& "e lin%s the lac% of good (os to

the lac% of respect for ourseles and the 8arth itself.

+o creating (os doesn't mean ruining the enironment. It doesn't mean, as the politicians chant,&(os, (os, (os.& ood and productie laor is aluale, and it doesn't mean you hae to hae a

fancy (o description. @ou don't hae to ecome rich. @ou can e ordinary. "appiness lies there. 2o

good wor%, create good wor% for others.

. 6espect nature. This follows from Ao. >. &Isn't humanity committing suicide with this indiscriminate

and tyrannical use of nature)& the Pope wonders. Aot surprisingly, this is what "enry 2aid Thoreau,

a founding father of the enironmental moement, said. &*ost people lie lies of 4uiet desperation,&

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1403144.htmhttp://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1403144.htmhttp://www.inspirationforthespirit.com/native-american-wisdom/http://www.inspirationforthespirit.com/native-american-wisdom/http://www.inspirationforthespirit.com/native-american-wisdom/http://www.inspirationforthespirit.com/native-american-wisdom/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1403144.htmhttp://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1403144.htm

8/9/2019 10 Tips to Happiness

2/2

he said. "e went into the woods, to alden Pond, ecause he wanted &to lie delierately& and to

&front only the essential facts of life.&

! proper respect for nature means that you can't pollute the air, poison the riers and chop down the

forests indiscriminately without suffering greatly. I suspect that a huge amount of the an9iety and

suffering that we see around can e closely traced to our wanton misuse of our resources. Just loo%

at any garage dump and see what is wasted. In a sense, we'e wasted our souls.