The Abstract Reality of Happiness
Happiness in itself isn’t a bad thing, but to base one’s existence on finding happiness is like an adrenaline junkie surpassing his latest high with a shot of hard drugs.
The ethereal nature of an intriguing emotion.
Happiness is defined by Google as “the state of being happy”. It’s really interesting; no one can adequately define what it is, everybody experiences it in diverse ways, each his own experience, but the consensus is that you feel good — ecstatic even.
The feeling is abstract, yet real. We are not meant to be happy all the time, in the same way, that we are not meant to be sad all the time. Ironically, it’s the presence of other feelings that makes happiness such a sweet feeling by comparison.
Most of the time, our feelings are what I’d term neutral positive, which can be described as a state of general contentment, pleasant disposition, positive mental and physical wellness, and the absence of negatively charged feelings such as fear, anger, and aggression. Note that in this context, I described anger, aggression, and fear as “negatively charged,” meaning that these emotions aren’t bad in and of themselves, rather something or someone triggers these emotions negatively. These same emotions, like others, serve several purposes and the pursuit of these emotions may even be the source of happiness for some, in which case we’ll term such a person sadistic or vicious, brutal or downright evil!
A question for the sages.
What makes you happy? Obviously, I can’t get responses right now (good idea: leave a comment saying what makes you happy) but I’m pretty sure we would get as many answers as there would be respondents. The answers wouldn’t be restricted by age, gender, geo-location, or any other pesky criteria you can come up with. I’ve been around humans long enough to know that we are truly weird beings and what triggers our emotions can be just as weird. Most of these triggers are external; an object, an experience, food, sex, achievements, conflict, pain (I tell you, humans are weird!), and a host of other things.
Happiness has been the subject of some of the world’s finest books and articles. It’s elusive for some and abundant for others. It’s been qualified, calculated, and explained.
It’s been the subject of several studies. Yet happiness simply remains in the realm of human experience, subject to unending debate. It is as abstract and as real as the experiences that induce it, and here lies the conundrum. I’ll describe happiness as the highest point to which a metal ball hanging from a thread will swing after being pushed. For some, the ball will reach higher than it does for others. Yet the ball will swing. It will get to its highest point after which it will drop, as is the natural order of things. True happiness is characterized by being ecstatic and aware that the feeling is scarce, fleeting even — few and far between for most people. Each of us will experience our own happiness from time to time, but to actively seek it is — for lack of a better characterization of this idea — detrimental to us.
Don’t chase happiness.
I hope I haven’t lost you! Please stay with me here. My submission is simple: Instead of actively seeking happiness as a thing (which it is not) or seeking to obtain it from things and experiences, it’ll be a whole lot more beneficial to seek the neutral positive — described earlier as a state of general contentment, pleasant disposition, positive mental and physical wellness and the absence of negatively charged feelings such as fear, anger, and aggression. It may sound mundane, but upon closer inspection, you’ll realize how close to the truth this will take humanity.
Imagine a world where people are not driven by their selfish desire to experience happiness, a world where people aren’t seeking the next best gadget to satisfy their thirst and quench their appetite for happiness, where substance abuse isn’t a thing simply because people aren’t seeking a high, where no one is forced to sell their bodies to survive or get the next thrill. A world where people aren’t buying or selling bodies, temporarily or permanently… A world where people are positively neutral. No, it won’t be a world filled will zombie-like humanoids.
It’ll be a world where people are people. Where jobs are done and done well. Where suicide isn’t prevalent. Where people don’t hurt others just for the fun of it, at the individual level or on an intercontinental scale. A world where true happiness, when it is experienced, will radiate out into the universe.
Happiness in itself isn’t a bad thing, but to base one’s existence on finding happiness is like an adrenaline junkie surpassing his latest high with a shot of hard drugs. The only practical thing for such a person to do is keep using bigger doses until the body breaks down. It’s not sustainable!
Pleasure, challenge, and meaning are largely agreed to be the three separate sources of happiness for most people. They are the components of everything that makes us joyful, and numerous combinations can be made. In an ideal world, we would spend the majority of our time working with one, two, or even all three sources. However, these sources of happiness aren’t guaranteed to produce ‘happiness’ if they aren’t for the individual involved, adequate, or more importantly if the person involved decides not to view them as sources of happiness for him or herself.
Positive neutral.
Positive neutral. It would encompass feelings like enjoyment, excitement, curiosity, and the like. These are feelings, not emotions. These feelings can be chased passionately. They form the basis of our being. Take a passion for instance; you can make a conscious decision to be passionate about something. That passion could be laced with a dedication that’ll bring about a level of happiness as a result of achieving something or some goal. Positive neutral would mean a balanced, well-groomed person who’ll be genuinely pleased with not-bought-with-money happiness. (Some happiness can be bought with money. Like natural order, this too is an oxymoron.)
There’s negative neutral too; here, all the feelings a person has is charged with a negative energy. People would describe such a person as having a bad aura. Such a person would default to anger, pain, and such with ease. Such people will only see the negative in everything.
But a neutral positive life, interspersed with genuine moments of happiness… Now that’s real.
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