Reflection On The Existence Of Happiness

Unlike movies, life goes on. Fortunately it does not end at these happy moments. These little portions of happiness are undoubtedly achievable but limited, very limited. The fact that I can list the moments in which I was happy is a proof of happiness being unmaintained. It is an abnormal feeling. It cannot be a constant emotion, otherwise we would not notice it. How can I describe how I feel now? Just nothing! Sometimes we answer “normal”. Because being happy is not normal, it is recognizable by our body and therefore memorable. We cannot count how many times we were ‘normal’ but we can make a list of when we were sad, happy, stressed out, tired or mad. Can we define emotional neutrality or feeling normal as happiness? Because if, for example,

If we put a condition for ourselves to become happy we are unconsciously identifying our current state as unhappy or sad. Demonstrating that, let’s think of our emotions as a mountain with happiness being its peak. We experience gradual happiness until we reach the peak, the higher we move up, the happier we become. The smallest part of the mountain is the peak, which means the happier a person is the more limited their sphere of happiness and thus the less ‘happy time’ they experience. Then we make our way down after reaching the peak. Every point we will cross is lower than the previous one and thus, less happiness. What is the opposite of happiness? Sadness! So any point other than the peak in the mountain is sadness. If we imagine this, the whole mountain is sadness and only one point is happiness, the peak. However if we did not define the peak as being happiness, we will think that the whole mountain is the normal state and experience neither happiness nor sadness, and we drive into a state of inner

When I define happiness as being satisfied and stop seeking to find it I will be able to maintain a maximum of it or something even better and easier to sustain: Inner peace. That way we can skip the feeling of sadness that comes after happiness, we focus on the moment we are at instead of worrying about the future, relate happiness to the NOW instead of to the Then. When a moment of happiness occurs, we can observe it, absorb it and treat it with a present and conscious way in order to handle its aftermath. When I tried to define happiness my understanding of it was informed by culture, environment, media and compared to other people’s lives. I forget that calling my mother, receiving an answer and hearing her voice, alive, is bliss. Receiving an “I am proud of you” message from my dad is an honor. When my friends trust me and rely on me that in itself is a success. When I have healthcare, food and housing that is a privilege. If we combine bliss, honor, success and privilege, there are no other words to describe it except satisfaction and self fulfilment, isn’t that happiness? It is there in every corner of my life, when I tend to feel unhappy, I just have to adjust where I am looking for happiness. I do realize that even that definition of happiness is not going to be stable, static or maintainable. One day my mom will not answer, and my father will not send that message but I am