HAPPINESS

HAPPINESS

Happiness, just like infinity, is undefined to its core. Perception of the term‘happiness’ varies with every other individual and with time as well. While happiness might nothave contributed directly, it has been the constant source for all the inventions. Plato’s ideology:

“Necessity is the mother of all inventions” supports this fact. One needs something if he/she is

seeking happiness. If man was always content and happy with what he had, he would never have

made it to the moon, elected Trump as president, or even learn the art of lighting fire. If he never

sought happiness, he wouldn’t have felt the need to work for it and, hence, no inventions would

exist. However, before jumping off to seeking happiness, understanding the definition of

happiness is vital. Giving a universal answer to the question “What is Happiness?” is injudicious

to the term ‘happiness’ itself. It’s quite similarto asking “What is the value of infinity?” The

answer to both the questions is the same: it’s undefinable. Similar to infinity, the idea of

happiness isn’t that hard to comprehend, the idea being that happiness is not something you get

to, but it is something you think about. It is just your reaction to anything good happening to you.

If something good happens, you have a reflexive tendency to try to hold on to it because you feel

happy. For example, winning a game might make you feel better than usual. Since the win was

the cause of that happiness, your brain thinks that in order to be happier, you should win more.

However, winning does not equal happiness; happiness is the reaction to that win. So, it’s this

mental projection that makes you believe happiness is a destination rather than a mere thought

that follows once you’ve reached your destination. If you can break away from this scant

difference, you’ll realize that you don’t need to objectify your happiness. You define your own

happiness. 

Even with variable definitions of happiness, the hunt for happiness doesn’t stop. Everyone in

the world is seeking happiness in their own way. Everyone is in this endless pursuit of happiness.

The only difference is the path taken.

Fishing only for positive emotions leavespeople devoid of possessing any positive emotions. Eventually, they end up being discontent andunhappy with their life. Lord Buddha preached “The good things either go away, lose theirappeal, or never happen, while the bad things come despite your best efforts. When you try tomanage your life by clinging and aversion, you are left dissatisfied, uneasy, or without a sense ofmeaning or wholeness.”

Speaking of bad times, let’s focus on negatives as, we know, ignoring the sufferings andsorrows of the world isn’t going to make us happy.

So, shall we startclocking our time till the inevitable doom? Expect nothing from life as we’re all going to bereduced to dust eventually? Fortunately, Wilson answered these questions himself. His advice isto embrace the pain. Embrace that feeling of heartbreak, discontentment, anxiety, and that fear ofdeath. These emotions should serve as a motivation for living. Not a cause of depression.

Accepting that life isn’t fair to all and isn’t, certainly, is reasonable, but obsessing over it to upset

yourself is not advisable by any means. While leaning towards the negatives, always remember

the story of John Keats. The man who braved all the harshness of life with a smile. By accepting

the existence of negativity in life, he never let it get the best of him. In life, accept that situations

will change. In order to be confident in your own skin, accept that your insecurities and

weaknesses shape your identity.

For a moment, try to imagine life as a rainy day. You’re holding an umbrella, but you are

running constantly. When asked, you say that you’re looking for happiness because the rainy day

took your happiness from you. You stop, sometimes, but you get sad as you still don’t have your

happiness. In all this time, however, you don’t leave your umbrella. You say, you don’t want to

get wet as you think the rain might hurt. In your actual life, that umbrella symbolizes the layer

you use to hide your deepest secrets and flaws from the real world. I say, shed that umbrella. Go,

get wet! But don’t run after happiness again because running in the rain, actually, hurts a lot.

While worrying about your ‘happiness’, you didn’t realize that the rain drops themselves offered

both positive and negative emotions. If only, you had stopped and come out of your umbrella to

feel the rain, you’d have realized you didn’t need to run for happiness in the first place. Running

after happiness won’t really get you anywhere. In fact, this way you’re happier than you would

have been while running So, make you choice wisely: whether you want to get wet in the rainy

day or want to stargaze or apply mathematics to a psychological topic. In the end, you should

realize, it’s your life; the life of your own choices, and it should be your own version of happy

life. Peace.

-        -Nishtha Kapoor