What makes you happy? Are you happy about that? Will you be happy if that happens? We wish you all the happiness in the world…
Our preoccupation with "happiness" is not any new phenomenon, but can it really show the world what kind of people we are? Is what makes you happy is more personal than universal? Because though the topics (family, friends, wealth, etc.) are same for most, aren’t what they mean are vastly different in the context of a rapidly evolving global culture?
It is also evident that the amount of effort we put into becoming happy is proportional to how long we think that happiness is going to last. Why?
Somehow, we’ve convinced ourselves that happy is something we can chase and catch and every smart brand has been capitalizing on it ever since. How’d that happen? Well, for one, it’s written as a purpose in the beginning of the US constitution (you know, "…the pursuit of happiness" part)…but more importantly, I think it is because we are too emotionally involved in our own pursuit of it to see its relevance in the larger emotional context.
What if instead we focused on enjoying contentment from time to time as it arrived as a byproduct of a purposeful existence? Would that be a more accurate depiction of cause and effect easier to live with? If you don’t think so, just think about the old adage:
The pursuit of happiness is nothing more than a formula for misery.
Have you ever heard of: "When you stop looking for it, it finds you"?
Perhaps in the interconnected world, that’s truer than ever.
Our preoccupation with "happiness" is not any new phenomenon, but can it really show the world what kind of people we are? Is what makes you happy is more personal than universal? Because though the topics (family, friends, wealth, etc.) are same for most, aren’t what they mean are vastly different in the context of a rapidly evolving global culture?
It is also evident that the amount of effort we put into becoming happy is proportional to how long we think that happiness is going to last. Why?
Somehow, we’ve convinced ourselves that happy is something we can chase and catch and every smart brand has been capitalizing on it ever since. How’d that happen? Well, for one, it’s written as a purpose in the beginning of the US constitution (you know, "…the pursuit of happiness" part)…but more importantly, I think it is because we are too emotionally involved in our own pursuit of it to see its relevance in the larger emotional context.
What if instead we focused on enjoying contentment from time to time as it arrived as a byproduct of a purposeful existence? Would that be a more accurate depiction of cause and effect easier to live with? If you don’t think so, just think about the old adage:
The pursuit of happiness is nothing more than a formula for misery.
Have you ever heard of: "When you stop looking for it, it finds you"?
Perhaps in the interconnected world, that’s truer than ever.
I agree, I think that as long as you are pursuing happiness you aren't going to find it because there will always be something that you think will make you happier.