The question begs, “What is happiness?” What do we mean when we say we are happy? Psychologists have offered varying but useful definitions of happiness. Some contend that happiness is an emotional state characterized by joy, satisfaction, contentment, and fulfillment. Others posit that happiness refers to experiencing more positive feelings than negative feelings.
Everyone is faced with pleasurable and painful moments. A balance between these two defines the emotional state of the individual. Happiness could also mean the current experience of the feeling of an emotion, such as pleasure or joy. “What I feel here and now”. Thus, happiness includes joy, pleasure, satisfaction, contentment, and fulfillment in the current moment.
Is it human nature to constantly pursue happiness? We are all violently seeking happiness, but we do not appear so. Are we looking for happiness in the wrong places? What makes us happy? Is it pleasure, satisfaction, contentment, or having a meaningful life? We could be doing it all wrong. Happiness is a constant pursuit, as it appears in the human world. Everyone is toiling to “achieve” happiness. We have set happiness as an end goal—the price of human suffering.
We tend to seek happiness in groups. Everyone has lined up to have a taste. We barely experience pleasure solo. We gravitate towards the masses. Frequently we say to ourselves, “I must join them; what they are doing must be fun; they are happy”. Consequently, happiness has been redefined as something buyable—a product tailored to meet the demands of a target market.
Groups are easier to persuade than an individual. The rational human is lost when congregated, and product brands have taken maximum advantage of this. Happiness has been attached to goods and services; therefore, it can be sold out. You have to hurry while stock lasts. You must not miss the best deal in the market.
Market trends define our emotional state. As a result, we often bounce from one source of happiness to the next. We are always going with the trend. We rarely enjoy what we have presently. We are simultaneously trying out different “kinds” of happiness. We staggeringly task material possessions and pleasurable moments to provide us happiness. Subsequently, every business is open to selling happiness.
Pills, junk foods, drinks, clothing, TV shows, etc. These can only make us happy in the short run; for example, pills are prescribed to cure unhappiness, but they only offer an illusion of happiness. Such an episode is short-lived, at the end of which we are back to base.
Money and happiness. Money makes us happy. We are consistently chasing it. With money, a person would buy all things that contribute to happiness. Since happiness is something to achieve, we aim to make more money. More money means happiness. We are stuck in painful pursuits of happiness: jobs we do not like and other painful activities provided they generate money. We are hooked on sadness in pursuit of happiness.
Lies have been told. We have been made to believe happiness is a commodity: a good or a service to satisfy our desires. A stock is to be bought before it is depleted, while the best deals are at discounted prices. We have been programmed to find happiness in the most unpleasant places.
Happiness has been defined as a final point. A destination that we must make haste to reach. Routes are in place to take us there: drugs, junk food, money, salaries, drama, discounts, etc. This doesn’t seem right. These paths do not lead to happiness. Happiness is not a goal to be achieved!
