Reflection on the Pursuit of Happiness (Essay Example)

Pursuing happiness will ruin the quality of your life and in this essay, I'll explain why. I'll first start by defining what happiness is and why it's completely wrong to pursue it and what you should focus on instead. I want to explain to you exactly why trying to reach the particular by going after the checkboxes that one pushes another to search for, is a mistake. And why will you continue on this path? So, let's ask ourselves the question: what is happiness? Well, to be happy,  is to have a sense of contentment in one's life. Now I know what some of you might be: Is it not pleasure or contentment that they want in life? Don’t you like feelings of satisfaction?  What's wrong with running after something feels good?  Well, let me explain.

When people seek happiness, they try to achieve a good stable feeling. Or reach feelings of happiness too powerful and somehow it will be a stable happiness for them. For a  fulfilling life, this is the wrong way to approach life. By explaining using the context of life I will show you why in detail. But first, we must ask ourselves what kind of person we are to try to achieve happiness. Well, in simple terms, people seem to measure happiness by comfort,  the absence of stress, and achieving short-term peaks of pleasure. The pleasure of very high intensity, which does not last in duration.  I know so many people  who think like this "Oh, if I can  have this car, I would be "If only  I could get this raise, would I be happy " I could afford one I will be happy And so on. But the truth is that none of these things will always make you feel good. No possession or outer achievement will ever make you You see, people regard happiness as a part of life. But this is fiction. Happiness is just an emotional state. And like all emotional states, it is not "Happily Ever After", it is a fairy tale, and one that will destroy your life if you keep living chasing a fairy tale ending. 

Now that this is done, I will share with you my personal experiences,  in the hope that you will fully understand the pursuit of happiness, in any way that is detrimental to your well-being. I have been a skateboarder for many years. And damn serious too.  At first, I loved doing it. But over time my love for skateboarding started to dwindle. But only this time, I tried to find it in achieving different, more difficult, cooler-looking skateboarding tricks. Because I was certain that if I landed those particular tricks, THEN I would be happy, right? After hard work and struggle, I learned these impressive maneuvers. Did I find happiness in landing these tricks? Yes, of high intensity.  But the duration of the pleasure was very short-term, in fact, forgettable. The happiness I started to feel, which was associated with a particular trick, went away as I got more and more skilled at that trick. At first, this left me in a state of utter despair. 

It was pure, psychological torture. 

I would chase happiness by trying to land a skateboarding trick, only attain a fraction of satisfaction for a short duration, and repeat the cycle, but instead trying to find my happiness in a different trick.  Quite frankly, this resulted in me feeling angry, bitter, unfulfilled, miserable, and at times, suicidal. Quite the opposite of happiness.   

Now I hope one understands why trying to achieve things or bring things into your life to uplift your mood and find an emotional state of “happiness" is so damaging. That being said, what can a person do for a better life? Well,  this question brings me to my next point of what a  person should be looking for on their own. The things you need to think about are the actions you can take that will give you long-term purpose and fulfillment in your life. You must have a purpose in life, something that you can obsess over. Tangible goals must be sought after. Not intangible, emotional goals. Tangible and meaningful goals that will objectively improve your finances, professionally, etc. It's up to you to determine what your life goals are. But never make your happiness entirely from achieving those goals. Does that mean you should always avoid yourself though? Certainly not. Whatever you end up  achieving, whether it's money, fame, succeeding in  making a difference in creating a product or service  that is right for you and earns you millions, sports achievements something else, this  will end up doing you good and you have the right to be satisfied with the result that you have devoted yourself to. But don't chase these things,  expecting a lasting, stable feeling known Because whatever you hit is a short-term high. And pursuing happiness with a failure to recognize this, will result in living a bitter life full of regret and disappointment. 

In conclusion, a mindset for living a good life. With this idea in mind, think twice about being envious of celebrities, wealthy businessmen, etc., thinking that they must be so happy because of the situation in the world. Because I  promise you, they are only in a state of infinite happiness. In fact, they are more likely than not, far from an impossible emotional state. Just like you and me. But I'll leave you with this, practicing gratitude for what you have is the way to live a better life. If you're reading this article, you have water and a roof over your head. YOU are in a very privileged part of the world. Every day, remember this,  feel gratitude for rather than taking it for granted, and you will have a better life.  So adopt this idea, forget the pursuit of happiness and your life will improve dramatically.