Are You Feeling Happy?

You hear stories of drug addicts chasing the unreachable high. I feel like that is what happiness is.

I began thinking about this around New Year, you know, that time where everyone is asking the same question “What’s YOUR New Year’s Resolution gonna be?”

People are spouting all sorts:

From the standard: Be heathier, Lose weight

Then there’s the measurable goal setters (I kind of like these): I will do X, Y and Z.

Then there are vague: New Year, New Me! This year, I’m gonna be happy!

Don’t get me wrong; I am all for people making positive changes in their lives. But every year, we come up with more Resolutions. Seldom, if ever, have I come across someone who says: Last year was THE BEST, I want to do exactly the same next year.

That is just not how we are. Even if last year was great, we want better. If next year is better, the year after we will want better than that!

Okay, so that is not to say that we all walk around in a miserable trance, always wishing things were better than they are, not appreciating that things are pretty damn good. But it seem that there is always that small nagging voice in the back of your head “This is GREAT! It would be perfect if….” or “oh if only…”

I do it myself. Even with the weather! This weather is perfect! Well almost… I wish the breeze was just slightly stronger. It is ridiculous.

Now I say all this but it doesn’t mean we aren’t content. Some of us, anyway. We look around and things are… yeah… pretty cool. Couldn’t be better, could be much, much, much worse. Do we label ourselves happy? Content, settled, perhaps, but I don’t think happy in the pure sense of the word covers it.

Of course, this is all subjective. It could be that some people have found happiness and are constantly swimming in ecstasy (the feeling, not the drug 😉 ) But somehow I doubt it.

Even if you look at the world and think “Oop, a little piece of negativity has floated in here, let’s turn this rascal into a positive!” *In the voice of Ned Flanders of course* Is that happy?

Or maybe happiness can never be a permanent state. Maybe you need negativity or positivity to exist. And maybe we have glimpses of happiness, true happiness, and then battle through reams and reams of negativity, just to find another little slither of happiness again…or to get as close as we can to it.

IF you’re always in a fairly positive place, do you find it harder to be more happy?

This would kind of make sense, as if you are in a very negative place, the little things can make you much happier then they ordinarily would.

To me, this concept is immensely frustrating. Basically the near you are to happiness, the less likely to are to obtaining it.

The further away you are, the more likely you are to reach it, but only momentarily, then you will want more, essentially pushing you away from the happiness you just experienced.

The human condition?

Let me know what you guys think.