The Door To Happiness

Victor Frankl in, "The Doctor and the Soul," said that the door to happiness opens outward.  I think he was referring to Kierkergaard.  Anyway, the meaning is that happiness is relational, interpersonal and covenantal.  It reaches out, opens outward to others. When we bond with another person or persons, such as in community, where love rather than self-interest predominate, we tend to be happy.  People in recovery programs have discovered this.  People who live in small faith communities might discover this too, if their spiritual  practice is more about service than escape.  Loving families discover this. I know that I am in a bad spot, isolation, when I am asked to do something of service for another person, and I cringe, or try to find a reason to say no, or suddenly feel resentful that my "plans" might be interrupted or curtailed.  That is why being of service is always a corrective to the "selfing" life, and always a revealer of how I am doing.  If "Yes" is my second response to a request, then I am living the redemptive life.