On Emotional Neutralism (and our new house)

        When we finally bought a house, I expected to feel elated, overwhelmed, eager, and perhaps a bit terrified.  Now that it's actually happened, I certainly feel eager to move in, overwhelmed by the work we must accomplish before we may do so, and if not terrified, at least mildly concerned about our future finances and home maintenance issues.  Elation has yet to come.  Satisfaction, yes.  Pleasure, definitely.  Gratitude, of course.  Euphoria... not so much.  It's as though all the searching and preparation and inspections and waiting boiled that high emotion down to "Okay, that's finally done.  What's next on the agenda?"

our new house

        I don't think my lack of enthusiasm reflects the house's suitability.  The work to be done could understandably have dampened it a bit, but a part of me wonders if something's wrong with me not to have taken just a moment when we received the keys to jump up and down like a little girl presented with her very own pony--performed in some private corner of my mind if not for all the world to see.  But then I ask myself, is there any particular way a person "should" feel in such a circumstance?  I don't feel depressed or disappointed by any means.  Why should I be dissatisfied with neutral emotions?

        This leads me to consider my--and indeed, our culture's--fixation on happiness.  Consider the inclusion of "happiness" in Jefferson's list of Man's inalienable rights, our culture's fixation on the importance of the individual on par with--or sometimes above that of family or community, and the Sixties' attitude of "if it feels good, do it."  These and more have unquestionably trickled down to the latest generations as a sense of entitlement for instant gratification and constant happiness.  An insidious voice within us whispers, "If I'm not happy, life is unfair; something's wrong with me; I must need a change."  The consequences of such thoughts need not be enumerated; we see them all around us, perhaps even in our own lives.
        Attitudes at the other extreme are similarly erroneous--"embrace and seek out pain; it builds character," "if you're happy, you're being selfish," or "it's wrong and worldly to enjoy material pleasures."  Did not God give us the material world to provide for our needs and give us cause to glorify God?  Did not God equip us with emotions?  Did not Solomon write, "There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?" (Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 ESV).  Does not the Law boil down into the two great commandments to love God and love our neighbor?  And true love is never begrudging or fully unhappy.  
        I must conclude, then, that happiness is neither evil nor the ultimate Good toward which a person can aspire.  If a person is happy, enjoy it.  If a person is unhappy, this too shall pass.  And if a person is emotionally neutral, why frown because of it?  One need not feel an emotional high to praise God sincerely--whether for the blessings of a comfortable house, nourishment, work, family and friends, one's mental and physical faculties, or God's goodness, all of which He deserves.
        Emotional neutrality strikes me as producing the most sensible, steady, and satisfying enjoyment of life, as well as enabling a person to be the most useful to God and neighbors without the extremes of depression and rejection of God, or of hyper-emotionalism and off-putting behaviors.  So if I feel neutral about this ginormous milestone in our adult life, so what?  I'll take it.