The Pursuit of Happiness

"Happiness is the only sanction of life; where happiness fails, existence remains a mad and lamentable experiment." ---George Santayana, The Life of Reason

Is happiness the goal of life? Am I pursuing the things that yield ulitmate happiness? Is wealth necessary for happiness? Are there limits to happiness? Why does happiness often seem hard to achieve and maintain?

"Life, liberty and pursuit of happiness." The authors of the American Declaration proclaimed happiness to be one of the essential rights that make life worth living. William James, the first American psychologists, echoed this emphasis on happiness: "If we were to ask the question: 'What is human life's chief concern? one of the answers we should receive would be: 'It is happiness.'" Every philosophical and religious system has offered its pathway to happiness for the individual and the group. Happiness has been related to pleasure, refuge from pain, intellectual contemplation, union with God, friendship, children, wealth, honor, successful activity, and even state burial with statues! Today, scientists have joined the dialogue to seek answers about what contributes to happiness or, as they call it, "subjective well-being".

The concept of happiness--while difficult to define-- is obviously here to stay. But the desire for happiness can set up expectations that are often hard to fulfill. The right to pursue happiness was conceived of as an inalienable right; the entitlement that everyone be happy was never promised. As captured by Eric Hoffer, a misguided search. First, let's see what recent scientific research and traditional wisdom have to say about what makes people happy---and what doesn't.

What Does Bring Happiness?

"No man is happy who does not think himself so." ---Publilius Syrus, Maxims

Happiness is not to be found in wealth, education, youth, geographic location, having children, or belonging to a particular gender or race. If these do not define happiness, what does? Although it is not "all in the head", psychologists and philosophers agree that happiness is primarily a state of mind or mental attitude. This explains why it is difficult to find relationships between happiness and external life circumstances.

Our happiness is produced, not by our external life conditions, but by our perceptions and thoughts about our life and what happens to us. We are not upset or made happy by events, but by our reactions to events. As Shakespeare put it, "What is aught but thinking makes it so." So the pursuit of happiness involves finding ways to gain control over our state of mind-- the ultimate source of happiness. Happily this is something we can control.

There are two important sources of happiness that are exceptions to this rule because they don't lend themselves to obvious control. Research suggests that people born with a cheerful disposition tend to have an easier time sustaining happiness. A group of teenagers who were happy in the 1920's were found to still be happy when studied again fifty years later.

And as much as this may go against our democratic traditions, physically attractive people obtain more social advantages that go along with happiness. Research shows that attractive people tend to be more popular, are favored by teachers, have better jobs and earn more. Of course, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley had their share of life dissatisfaction.

A cheerful disposition and physical beauty have their charms. But we believe that the essence of happiness is defined by a person's state of mind, positive relationships with others, and balanced living that includes a higher purpose reaching beyond the self.

Excerpt from: http://www.happiness.com/main/home.html (This address is no longer good. .The Pursuit of Happiness © 1995, BalanceQUEST