The (futile) pursuit of happiness

The (futile) pursuit of happiness…

A few weeks ago I met someone who told me that he's happy every morning when he wakes up. Amazing, you may think. What a lucky guy. And he is a lucky guy. At least on paper. Rich. Successful. Good looking. The ladies like him. Maybe a bit too much.

And yet, I can't shake the feeling that he's in total denial. I didn't want to burst his bubble right there and then, (especially not for free), but it got me thinking about happiness. Is it a goal or rather a byproduct of life?

Happiness is relative and fleeting. The relentless pursuit of happiness is what makes us so terribly unhappy.

We have this expectation that we should feel happy at all times, that happiness is the ultimate goal. When we meet people we project this illusion of happiness. Our facade, our 'configurations' are set to happiness. And when we look around everyone seems to be happy or at least, seems to be striving for happiness.

This constant pursuit of happiness is futile. The expectation to achieve a constant state of happiness puts us under an immense amount of pressure.

It's ok to feel bad. It's ok to be sad. It's normal.

Nobody is always happy.

Happiness is fleeting.

There are moments of great perceived happiness followed by despair and back again. That's normal. But are we able to recognise and appreciate these fleeting moments of happiness? Or do we ignore and devalue them in our pursuit of what is ultimately a fallacy?

Negative emotions such as sadness, stress and anxiety are part of our range of human experiences and often have an adaptive function.The question to ask is how much do they infringe on our normal functioning.

If happiness is seen as a commodity we are entitled to, we pathologise perfectly normal emotions whilst at the same time missing out on those fleeting moments of happiness.

#happines #mentalhealth #honesty