The Pursuit of Happiness
“Think happy thoughts” seems to be the prevalent personal development view held by the mainstream self-help gurus. This simple command, we are told, will increase our wealth, health and satisfaction with life. Positive thinking is a quick and easy way to sound helpful, but it’s wrong. Beliefs have consequences, and these “self-help” leaders end up causing “self-hurt” and literally wreck thousands of lives.
Happiness is not primarily a question of attitude, but is primarily a question of consequence.
Happiness is more than just an attitude, an outlook or a feeling – it’s something much more fundamental. Until we understand this, there’s no way to achieve happiness and get society out of the depression rut.
Is there a general principle to the cause of happiness, or is happiness simply a game of luck? Can money buy happiness? Acceptance? Why are some people depressed even though they have many friends? In this article we’ll analyze why someone becomes happy as opposed to sad, and why some actions lead to more happiness than others.
I firmly believe that the root of happiness is achieving one’s personal values, and I’ll show why below.
Short-Term Happiness
Happiness is primarily an emotion of satisfaction. It means that one is satisfied with life, an event, themselves or something else. Put bluntly, happiness is what we feel when we get what we actually want — not what we think we want, but what we actually want.
The same brand of short-term happiness can be caused by a good meal, a great hug, a caffeinated beverage, a good story, winning the lottery or saving 15% on car insurance; the possibilities are, of course, limitless.
So, this turns us to ask why on earth these events or things caused any level of happiness, short-term or other. The answer is simple: we liked the events and things. Happiness is getting what you like, whether it’s personal, social or material. If you value money, then making money increases happiness to a certain extent. Money can’t buy happiness or make you happy, but it can certainly make you more happy. The same for movies, hugs, food, hot cocoa on a winter night, or any other thing that causes short-term happiness.
Long-Term Happiness
But, of course, the above examples are causes of short-term happiness. Someone can be simply miserable with their life and still crack a smile at a joke or laugh while watching a comedy. It’s not so much the short-term stuff we are looking for so much as the long-term cause of happiness.
Oddly enough, long-term happiness is extremely similar. After all, happiness is, simplified: “What you feel when you get what you actually want.” Short-term happiness is based on time-restricted events. For example, having a cup of hot-cocoa can only cause a short-term of happiness because the cocoa was short term. The same for the hugs, movies, and any other cause of short-term happiness.
This means that the key to long-term happiness (or “real” happiness) is rooted in timeless causes. Short-term values like material things cause only short term satisfaction.
Timeless values include lifestyle values. For example, a lifestyle of personal development, productivity and creative living is constantly achieved. If you achieve your lifestyle value, then life itself is your cause of happiness, leading to long-term consequences.
Internal values such as honesty, rationality, “the truth,” morality and other fundamental values go a long way, as do large “causes.” But simply, the bigger the value the bigger the satisfaction once it’s achieved.
Concluding Thoughts
Happiness is the emotional result when we get what we actually want. It might be short-term and caused by small things like TV, food or beverages; it might be long-term and caused by lifestyle or internal values.
This causes us to move to the next issue; one that is often overlooked by psychologists, philosopher and social experts. It’s a bit politically incorrect to say these days, and is founded a bit on the principles that the founding fathers’ often believed, but is something few “experts” say in this Postmodern age.
The next article is extremely important to understand, and regardless if you agree or not, you’ll be sure to find it interesting.
Though I respect your right to say whatever you believe on your blog, I would challenge these two statements of yours: “Happiness is not primarily a question of attitude, but is primarily a question of consequence,” and “Happiness is the emotional result when we get what we actually want.”
Describing happiness as a consequence or result is a popular myth. In fact, success does NOT lead to happiness. Rather, happiness leads to success. Happiness is “the way,” just as love and peace are means rather than end results. Google it a bit, then Google your statements. Thanks for your great intentions, however.
Comment by Michael — September 28, 2008 @ 11:50 pm
You write clearly. That makes discussion easier and more productive.
My views differ somewhat from yours. First, you are right that happiness arises from success in achieving one’s personal values, that is, values which may be peculiar to one person but need not apply to others.
I would add that happiness also requires the achievement of philosophical values, that is, values that apply to everyone, everywhere, at all times: reason, purpose, and self-esteem. Of course, in a sense, one can make those philosophical values into personal values by adopting them.
Second, happiness is not an emotion, though it is akin to an emotion in that it is a response to an evaluation. Rather, happiness is a “state of consciousness,” as Ayn Rand phrases it. It is a long-term phenomenon, not a mere traffic signal as are emotions. (See “Happiness,” The Ayn Rand Lexicon, 4th entry.) This means it is enduring even if there are short-term failures. A happy man does not cease to be happy just because he gets laid off. Likewise an unhappy man does not become happy just because he gets a dream job.
Happiness/unhappiness are indicators of long term success or failure. Emotions are indicators of short-term conditions: fear, joy, revulsion, and so forth. Emotions are exhausting and cannot be sustained; happiness is not.
Third, satisfaction is the second prize to aim for if happiness is not possible (due to circumstances beyond one’s control). Mary Ann and Charles Sures, Facets of Ayn Rand, pp. 74-76, note that Ayn Rand made this distinction clear. I recommend that discussion.
You have designed an exciting life for yourself. I wish you well.
Comment by Burgess Laughlin — September 29, 2008 @ 1:49 pm
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