Pursuit Of Happiness

This week, I chose to watch The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) starring Will Smith and his son, Jaden. the movie tells the story of Chris Gardner – a salesman who becomes homeless for almost a year while raising his five year-old son as a single parent. Considering this movie is based on the rags to riches story of Chris Gardner. The Pursuit of Happyness is a mix of an inspirational drama.

The happy state is very fleeting for me. Nowadays, I’m mostly in the content state and spike up to happy once in a while. Those moments of happiness aren’t that big either. They are just small doses of happiness from everyday life. Generally, I feel content throughout the day. Exercising is always good. It’s an easy way to get the blood pumping and lift your mood. 

Being happy can lead you to ignore potentially dangerous consequences of your choices, to be more gullible. I’m happy just a few times per day if things are going well. That’s okay because I’m at a good spot in my life. I’m content most of the time and that’s more than good enough. Anyway, I’m beginning to think that the pursuit of happiness is misguided.

Pursuite of Happyness
Pursuit of happiness

Dress – H&M | Heels – Bershka

I’ve been thinking about contentment and happiness for a few weeks now, but I put off writing about it. Carl’s post Are You Happy? finally gave me the push to work on this. He shared how he’s not any happier after early retirement.

Happy States

I’m not going to overthink happiness and contentment. I’ll just go by what it means to me and avoid researching too much. First, let’s just simplify our daily moods into 5 simple states.

  1. Happy – this is a high bar for me. Think being in love in your teenage years. You’re happy when you’re walking around grinning like a fool.
  2. Content – feeling pleasant. Going out for a walk or just hanging out with friends. This is where I am when I’m in the flow. Time flies by in this state.
  3. Neutral – not happy and not sad. Just sliding by and passing the time.
  4. Dissatisfied – feeling somewhat annoyed.
  5. Miserable – Ugh! This is like being stuck in rush hour traffic for 45 minutes.

Happiness

Are you happy? Think about it. Consider yesterday:

  • How many times did you smile?
  • Were you happy, sad or just going through the motions?
  • Did you say “Hi!” to strangers or look away?
  • How did you spend your day? Did it bring you fulfillment?
  • Did you go to bed content or did worry keep you awake?
  • Yesterday was Sunday, so you may not have been at work. However, think about your last day at the job. Was it mostly positive or negative?

My conclusion is that chasing happiness is the wrong way to live. It’s not possible to be up at the happy level for any length of time. Our brain chemicals can’t maintain that elevated state. It’s pretty much impossible to be happy all the time. That’s why I think aiming for contentment is better. It’s way easier to feel content even without a lot of stimuli. Look at it this way – Contentment is a state of being. Happiness is a moment.

It’s nice to have happy moments, but it’s even better to be content. The pursuit of happiness will leave you dissatisfied.

What do you think? Is it misguided to chase happiness? 

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