Saturday, January 2, 2010

The pursuit of happiness


“We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.”
Anne Frank.
Happiness is the state of being, we are constantly yearning and striving to achieve and attain, and is seldom acquired by most of us.

I did not do much scientific research on the subject matter, but I’ve accomplished this feat on a few occasions, therefore I want to document and share what brought me this happiness and how it was accomplished, or rather how I found myself being in that state.

As one of my favorite philosophers Albert Camus said” You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.” Happiness is a state of consciousness, which happens in a void.

We do see people that are happier than others, that might indicate, that there are other factors, which are directly linked to reaching that void, resulting in happiness. They might be; a specific action that brings happiness, or by removing the factors that are in direct conflict with happiness. This is what I will try to focus on, rather then what happiness and its consistency are.

Reflecting back at some of my happiness experiences, I’ve realized that there is a common denominator, they are; being totally consumed, lose of inhibition, logic, and control. This would typically occur in the midst of experiencing; beauty, love, or passion.

Observing a child in play, it’s noticeable the state of oblivion, and total in total sync, it’s a state of raw emotion if they are satisfied with the action, the state of bliss and happiness will usually follow, otherwise anger will ensue.

The issue with being totally susceptible to emotion is; raw emotion swings in all directions the good and the bad, that’s why children are constantly thought to control their emotion, although it would typically be when it’s the bad sort, it would affect the freedom of emotion as a whole.

Another fact that affects a child like oblivion is; that children are typically cared and provided for, therefore there is no distraction, on the other hand adults have responsibilities.

Is it possible to control one direction of emotion and be free on the other? Is it possible to gain that freedom while having survival responsibilities? I don’t know the answer, but what I learned is the direction and distractions to the void that enables happiness, perhaps one day I’ll figure out the perfect formula, in the meantime I’ll embrace the journey and pursuit.

2 comments:

Jacqueline Johns - Your Happy Life Mentor said...

You're right. Adults do have responsibilities, one of which is their own happiness! If adults took that responsibility more seriously, we would be living on a totally different planet If happiness became our priority rather than soothing the ego, what a wonderful world we would inhabit. Happiness is serious business.

Live Life Happy!

Hasidic Rebel said...

Interesting points.

"Albert Camus said, 'You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.'"

Similarly, Spinoza said (qtd by Victor Frankel): "Emotion, which is suffering, ceases to be suffering as soon as we form a clear and precise picture of it."

One can't experience emotion when it's viewed from the objective and remote viewpoint of analytical inquiry.