Happiness is a state of mind or feeling characterized by contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy. Wikipedia
Lately, I find myself continually asking this very question....What is happiness? What does happiness mean to me? What does it mean to others? I tend to be one of those deep thinkers, although only those closest to me know this about me. For as long as I can remember, I've never been the type to just accept an answer as fact without actually looking at that "fact" from all possible angles to make sure it makes sense to me. A deep analyzer, if you will. Oh how life would just be easier if I was able to just accept things for what they were without always trying to figure out the "how", "what" and "why" of it all. But I digress.
So back to the topic at hand...happiness. Of all aspects of life, happiness is the one common emotion or state of being that everyone attains to achieve in their lifetime. People search high and low for decades, often chasing “happiness”. There are philosophers, doctors, scientists, and religious leaders just to name a few, which spend their lifetime trying to define happiness and quantify happiness. What if everyone in the world was happy or not even happy as an emotion, but happy as a state of being at all times? I wonder how different the world would be. Would there be less crime, less judgment, less jealousy?
So back to the topic at hand...happiness. Of all aspects of life, happiness is the one common emotion or state of being that everyone attains to achieve in their lifetime. People search high and low for decades, often chasing “happiness”. There are philosophers, doctors, scientists, and religious leaders just to name a few, which spend their lifetime trying to define happiness and quantify happiness. What if everyone in the world was happy or not even happy as an emotion, but happy as a state of being at all times? I wonder how different the world would be. Would there be less crime, less judgment, less jealousy?
When I was younger, I didn't ever question what happiness was...why is this? I had a great and stable childhood, lots of friends and family and my biggest concern was getting good grades in school. My biggest decisions back then were when to study, what extracurricular activities I would participate in and when the next friends sleepover was. Oh the naive mind of a child! If only that innocence could be put into a bottle and preserved! So could this be the reason happiness was just my state of mind and never questioned?
But the older you get the wiser you become right? Or is it the older you get the more corrupted you become? Oh well, anyway, our innocent minds quickly move away from sleepovers with friends to career demands, bills, illnesses, stress, heartache, death, and the list goes on and on. This isn't something that can be avoided no matter who you are because...well, this is LIFE and many people experience many of these, simultaneously. So with all the daily stresses, suffering and pressure one can experience in their lifetime, how does one remain happy? Some believe they would be happy if they had more money or hit the lottery, others if they had a significant other, some think their happiness lays in a bigger house or nicer car, for others it's having a baby or a closet full of clothes, for some it’s discovering the meaning to life. These are just a few that I thought of but of course there are millions of reasons or excuses a person can have for why they aren’t yet happy. Whatever a person's reason is, often times the person remains unfulfilled and unhappy because they haven't yet attained this one elusive thing that they believe will bring them happiness. Which brings me to this quote by C.P. Snow: "The pursuit of happiness is a most ridiculous phrase, if you pursue happiness you'll never find it."
For the most part, I am a very happy person by nature. However, being the deep thinker I am, I have exhausted myself over the years, trying to pursue or discover what my own happiness means to me. Because, I believe it is different for everyone. But like I mentioned in the beginning of this blog, I tend to look at everything and figure out the “who”, “what” and “why” of it all and I don’t think you can actually do that with happiness. I mean, you can look at a loved one and know they bring you happiness by being in your life and you can find something so funny that you laugh so hard it makes your stomach hurt and realize, that’s happiness. But I still wonder…if you had to give someone an illustration of what happiness is, what would your picture look like? Is happiness love? Well, then how do you illustrate love? You can’t just draw a heart. I don’t think anyone really knows how to define happiness. I think happiness, love, faith, hope…they’re all the same…they mean a lot and carry a lot of weight but they’re hard to explain and define, and it’s not necessarily something you actually see, but more something you feel inside and believe in.
For the most part, I am a very happy person by nature. However, being the deep thinker I am, I have exhausted myself over the years, trying to pursue or discover what my own happiness means to me. Because, I believe it is different for everyone. But like I mentioned in the beginning of this blog, I tend to look at everything and figure out the “who”, “what” and “why” of it all and I don’t think you can actually do that with happiness. I mean, you can look at a loved one and know they bring you happiness by being in your life and you can find something so funny that you laugh so hard it makes your stomach hurt and realize, that’s happiness. But I still wonder…if you had to give someone an illustration of what happiness is, what would your picture look like? Is happiness love? Well, then how do you illustrate love? You can’t just draw a heart. I don’t think anyone really knows how to define happiness. I think happiness, love, faith, hope…they’re all the same…they mean a lot and carry a lot of weight but they’re hard to explain and define, and it’s not necessarily something you actually see, but more something you feel inside and believe in.
Overall, at the end of my life, I just want to make sure that when I am on my deathbed, I can look back and easily define what my life’s purpose was and say, "wow that was a fulfilling life". My blog headline, "LIVE, LOVE, LAUGH" is also my mantra. My other mantra is "Life is too short to sweat the small stuff". I try to live by these every single day. Of course, sometimes life difficulties get in the way and I forget my mantra, but overall I always find myself coming right back to these phrases. And believe me, in my life, these phrases have really been tried and tested, yet I remain loyal to them. I've come to realize that my own pursuit of happiness needs to reside within myself. I've also come to realize that what I perceived as happiness when I was a little girl might not look the same as I had expected. So the idea is to change your expectations or better yet, not have any expectations in order to experience true happiness. Happiness is not a purchase you make, a place that you visit or an item you wear. True happiness can only exist deep within ourselves, finding contentment with who we are and our own meaning to our life. It's being comfortable in your own skin, confidant in yourself that even if you fail your own strength will pick you back up, it's appreciating the small things in life like love and laughter...these things can't be bought or sought externally, they can only reside within.
On that note, I will end this blog with a few of my favorite quotes as they relate to happiness:
"Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence." -- Aristotle
On that note, I will end this blog with a few of my favorite quotes as they relate to happiness:
"Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence." -- Aristotle
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." -- Mahatma Gandhi
And lastly, "Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open. " -- John Barrymore
Therefore, my door, will always remain slightly ajar....
Therefore, my door, will always remain slightly ajar....
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Thank you, you have been asking the same question as I have and your right in the end happiness is with in yourself. It's taken me years to finally except me and know what I want out of life. So happy to know that someone else out there is asking the same questions x
ReplyDeleteBella, well said. I searched high and low for the meaning of life believing happiness was completely out of reach. Being self schooled, the pinnacle of my happiness was when the Library of Virginia invited me to speak about my memoir Timekeeper. I was gratified that day I had accomplished a goal, which for nearly 50 years I thought unattainable. But days later I am faced with the deep thinker that ask, "Is that all there is?" No. I have more goals, more mountains to climb. I'm happy when I have direction.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your insights.