- He suggests that at this point in your life you might think that things are not the way they should be. Yet things are the way they are. If you can be happy in that reality, then you will improve your life faster and reach your goals easier. Energy will not be wasted on friction or regrets. In the United States, the pursuit of happiness is a god-given right and Americans have a document to prove it. But I wonder why the Founding Fathers deliberately phrased it, 'the pursuit of happiness', as if to say --- happiness in itself cannot be granted because it was, and still remains, tied to materialism. In the "pursuit" of happiness, it is each person's own definition: riches, health, religion, etc."