Happy or Proud? Which would most people choose? > The question has always been asked, if you could wish one thing for your life, what would it be? Most people answer “to simply be happy”. What more could you ask for, right? It’s not about money and material things. We tend to think if we have a life of simple happiness, then that is enough. And that sounds right! But in reality, I see most people choosing differently, and maybe they have not even realized it. They are seeking something else more than happiness, and they will end up glad they did!

Can we be happy if we are ashamed of the things we have done in our pursuit of happiness? Based on what I have seen, most people will sacrifice many things in the pursuit of a life they can be proud of. There is a GOOD pride. Not a pride that lifts yourself up, but a pride of not being ashamed! How horrible it is to suddenly realize you are ashamed of things you have done, and others are ashamed of you.

How many of us have gone out at night and crammed all the fun into it we could, but woke up the next day very ashamed of the things we did? What about our reputation? Did I do something awful that might go viral on the Internet? Oh my God, what did I do last night?

Now the question becomes, do you want to be that person the rest of your life? Or enter the good fight to make our teachers proud, and the people near and dear to us proud of who we have become? Which do we choose? Which are we choosing? Are we willing to sacrifice, train, and fight? Are we willing to say “NO” to that next fun thing that is actually shameful?

It can be so many things. A life of laziness and sponging off others. Abandoning your children while you pursue your own good time. Stealing, lying, violent actions, driving while drunk, or simply being an immoral person, not being a productive part of society.

I propose most of us will willingly suffer hardships in order to accomplish something we believe in, and avoid being labeled a pharisee, hypocrite, deviant, liar, lazy, manipulator, selfish, lousy parent, etc, etc, etc. And thank God for that! Thank God there are still more people who seek honor and integrity over being the irresponsible person. Most people have that in them naturally. What would happen if we did not? We need good societal peer pressure! To maintain a healthy and prosperous society. It’s for the good of the whole!

We do not want to be seen as a failure, and that is based on what you deem to be success. We will sacrifice even happiness, most of the time, in order to not be ashamed of our life. The satisfaction of a life well lived actually brings much happiness in the end, and the sorrows of a shameful life are never ending.

“The blessings of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow.” (Proverbs 10:22)

Hence, when Johnny Lawrence says, “We fight to HONOR what we have learned,” he speaks of not being ashamed, and he speaks of a good fight. When people are so focused on finding their “fun”, they don’t realize what a poor choice they are making until the shame suddenly hits them, and then…if they have any honor…unhappiness floods in. They will either do the right thing and enter the fight for honor and integrity, or decide to ignore their own conscience to seek their pleasures while pushing back the inner voices haunting them.

I do believe the more correct answer to what you would wish for your life, and what most people would agree with if given the chance to think about it, is that we have a life we can be proud of. I think most people pursue that without even thinking about it. Yes, we want to be happy. And subconsciously we know our happiness is connected to not being ashamed! (And that is in spite of Hollywood constantly trying to redefine what is shameful and break down those healthy societal and emotional guardrails.)

It is a fight to live what you believe in. There is a happiness that comes with that, even though the path may be hard. You may not be out there partying, taking expensive vacations, just doing whatever your emotions desire, but you are training yourself! You’re developing disciplines that enable you to be the victorious fighter rather than the defeated victim because you have no fight! You have no skills to fight! To change! And you should be ashamed.

People are ashamed of you. You have become an embarrassment. It’s not that they don’t care about you, they love the person you could be, but how can anyone approve of people who hurt others, hurt society, and hurt themselves by constantly making poor choices and never learning? Intentional blindness is shameful. Refusal to learn after so many failures is shameful. People who don’t want to end up like you, will separate from you, create a healthy buffer zone, because they know they need to. For you and for them.

People of wisdom and discipline will begin pulling away, not because they do not still love you, but they can no longer spend the time indulging your foolishness. They have a good fight to win, and you’re not doing your part. We all must find our tribe. Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future, as the saying goes. “Good Fight” people will find others of the “Good Fight”. And they will strengthen each other, not drag each other down.

Johnny was ashamed of his wasted life, and he had a ton of emotional scars to deal with. LaRusso, and the Miyagi-do way helped him to slowly heal, and find better answers. Now Johnny was able to give the RIGHT answer. A successful answer. We don’t fight for revenge. We fight to honor the things we have learned. Such wisdom coming from Johnny? Wow! What a change.

So… maybe you have not thought about it before, but if you like reading stuff like what I’m putting down here, you’re probably not worried as much about your own happiness, as you are fighting the good fight and being proud of your actions at the end of the day, when you lay your weary head down to sleep. You think about what you accomplished that day. Maybe it’s your yard you mowed and you see how good it looks. Or a person you helped, a school board meeting you attended, or a nursing home you visited, and like the God you seek to please, you say…It is good.

Because when it is all said and done, the only thing that will matter in the end is if you can stand before God, and not be ashamed.

“For the scriptures say, Whosoever believes on Him shall not be ashamed.” (Romans 10:11)

“The Lord knows the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.” (Psalms 37:18-19)

This too, is supernatural. God turns our water to His wine. Amen!