In modern society, achieving happiness is often considered the ultimate goal in life. Many people fail to realize that happiness is not the goal; it is a byproduct of the journey.
Society often makes the mistake of viewing happiness as something to achieve, when it is actually an abstract idea.
People often squander their lives in the pursuit of an unrealistic goal, and never feel true happiness because of it. This is but one of many detrimental effects pursuing happiness as a goal can have.
All sentient life on the planet favors pleasure over pain. Of all life on the planet, only human beings have the capacity to plan their lives to ensure maximum happiness.
Just because society has the ability to pursue happiness, does not mean striving for happiness is advisable.
Many individuals across the planet believe the pursuit of happiness should be the main source of human motivation.
The belief that happiness should be a person’s main motivation is represented in the United States Declaration of Independence, which states the pursuit of happiness is “self-evident” and an “unalienable right.” However, searching for happiness can actually prevent one from finding it.
In many studies, the more value people place on happiness, the less happy they become. When a person longs for a career and culture that would provide happiness, they often lose themselves along the way. Oftentimes, these shallow careers do not fulfill a person whose goal is happiness.
People should do what they love, despite how much happiness it brings them. By pursuing happiness, people can fail to achieve anything in life. They just keep floating through life waiting for the perfect scenario. But in reality, that scenario never comes.
Actively pursuing happiness can often make one less happy. If people are not achieving the “happiness” they want, they can be left disappointed and, thus, less happy.
In many instances, people who value happiness highly often have problems with depression and dissociation.
By overtly focusing on being happy, people cause themselves social, not just personal, isolation, and dissatisfaction. In the end, valuing happiness too much sets a person up for disappointment.
Many people waste their lives trying to achieve an idealistic “happiness” they can never truly achieve. If people focus too much on becoming happy, they often forget how to be happy.
Mindless pursuit can lead to less satisfaction, greater unhappiness, and greater overall dissatisfaction with life.
People should stop thinking of happiness as a goal. Instead of thinking about what they should be feeling or achieving, people should focus on how they are feeling or achieving in any given moment.
Happiness is an abstract idea; a person should not view it as something to achieve. People should revoke the notion of pursuing happiness and, instead, think about enjoying the moment and being happy now.
