I’m fine, or shall I tell you?

“Why do we strive for happiness?”

The simplicity of this question is so deceptive. In my point of view, it is necessary to question the word “happiness”. My mom asks me different versions of this question on a regular basis and I’m always confused with my answers.

My answer could be “mostly” or “usually” because that seems to be more appropriate if not accurate.

Humans think of happiness as binary phenomenon. Either you’re happy or you’re not. Is happiness a math to be calculated? Can you define the exact value of happiness and tell me how much happy you are? Do you think that you want to be an idealized version of happiness at life?

People have made the definition of happiness comparing it on scale of satisfaction. Our popular culture with its superficial celebrities have encouraged us to think this way. If you can buy this stuff, you’ll be finally happy.

Wondering whether you are happy or not is the worst thing you can do for the sake of your happiness. Happiness is paradoxically found when you begin to think beyond yourself, outside your head. Also, being a happy person doesn’t mean that you have a smooth sailing life. It means that something in you keep wanting to sail regardless of the tides. Happiness is great but is highly overrated at times. This is an expectation that life will never live up to.

Things are good only because they promote happiness for people and reduce their pain. That’s an oversimplification. It is really about doing something for the love of that thing, rather than doing it as a means to achieve satisfaction. It is about caring for that thing immensely.

We want to be happy, but we fear it without knowing. If we keep on looking for what happiness consists of, we’ll never be happy. It is not sequential. You don’t say that you want to become rich first and then happy later.

It is a byproduct of life well lived. Why do we want to be happy but also we fear to be happy??!!!