IS HAPPINESS WORTH IT
Basically all humans desire happiness. It’s something so important to us we consider it a key priority of life. Notably, Thomas Jefferson changed John Locke’s “life, liberty, and property” to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, and now those seven words are forever engraved in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America. But Jefferson wrote those words in 1776. Now, two and a half centuries later, we ask ourselves, is happiness really worth it?
I think it’s worth pointing out that Jefferson wrote “the pursuit of happiness”, not “happiness”. Happiness isn’t something like food or water. It can’t be provided externally. Happiness is wholly intrinsic, though extrinsic factors can influence it. Ultimately, we have to pursue our own happiness. And that’s the crux of the issue. Mathematically, is what we get out worth more than what we put in? If happiness costs so much, is it worth it to be happy?
Happiness is the most convoluted basic resource of all. It’s non-essential. Humans are able to survive perfectly well being unhappy all their lives. I know people who’ve lived like that for years. I was… maybe still am… one of them. And it’s not always their fault. More often than not, actually, it’s a combination of circumstances, internal factors, and pure chance. So, happiness is random and dependent. It’s unstable, a system with interruptions and shortages. You won’t feel happy all the time, just as you won’t feel unhappy all the time. It’s not a switch with two polar ends. Happiness is a gradient.
I’m sure we’ve all experienced happiness at some point in our lives. And it feels amazing. It’s like a rush. The confidence, the energy, the willingness to push on through trials and tribulations… happiness is a resource that feels amazing to have. Yet so many can’t figure out how to get it. Some willingly reject it, seeing it as unbalanced and dangerous. Some indulge themselves in it to the point of euphoria, which really can be dangerous. But overall, most people like being happy. Sometimes you feel less happy than at others, but through it all, happiness is something nice to have. But you don’t always have it.
Sometimes you feel happy. Sometimes you don’t. But not feeling happy isn’t the same as feeling unhappy. There’s always a grey area, an area of numb, neutral, ambiguity. Somewhere where you exist in a transient phase between the two. And honestly, that can feel terrible as well. It’s like wanting to cry but being unable to. Or it can feel liberating. It can replace endless cacophonies of meaningless noise with silence and numbness, and plainly detach you from reality. It’s like staring at a blank television screen. There’s nothing on. You don’t feel anything. Maybe a little bit bored. But in the end, that’s all the absence of happiness is. An absence. You can function perfectly fine with the absence of happiness. And at least it’s better than what happiness when happiness is dragged into the negatives.
Being unhappy is tiresome. But even still, many people are unhappy. It’s like a cold breeze. Once or twice in a while, it can feel calming. Sobering. But when the cold winds are constantly blowing, it ends up feeling like a torrent of frost and chill. You start to shiver, start to fight against it. But eventually, you will lose body heat. You will burn through energy. And that fire will eventually go out. And once it does, the only thing you can do is lie down and die. Well, actually, that’s not true. Someone can enter your life, enter your situation, and they can drag you out of the cold winds. They can reignite and stoke a fire. They can make you feel less unhappy. Yet, they can’t stop you from dragging yourself back out there to freeze and die. Because sometimes you do want to do that. Sometimes it feels like warming up again, being happy again, would be a lot more effort compared to immersing oneself in unhappiness and dying there. So what’s the point, then? Is it worth it? Is happiness worth it?
Once again, I have a question and I do not have an answer. Really, it depends from person to person. Some people like the fuel of being happy. They actively strive to keep themselves happy, entertained, and seeking out more happiness. Other people don’t, and that’s alright too. They feel more comfortable in a balanced state of emotional neutrality. They may not feel happy, but they feel content. And content can be just as potent. And of course, you can those that actively decry happiness. The people who choose to be unhappy. But these people, even these people who desire to be unhappy, have their own solace. They are unhappy, and they find solace in remaining that way. Really, who are we to judge others? The only real problem occurs when you’re not as happy, or you’re more happy, than you feel comfortable with. And changing it requires work and effort. It takes a lot of energy to be happy. Likewise, making yourself unhappy and remaining unhappy takes work and effort too. But for you to achieve equilibrium, then yes, I would say it is worth it. So, returning to our original question, I believe a rephrasing is in order. Is happiness worth it? I don’t know. Is mastery of one’s happiness worth it? I would say it is.