I’ve recently been thinking about happiness and I felt the need to share my thoughts.
Ultimately in life most humans want to be happy. From the time you‘re born until your last breath happiness is what most people seek.
I’ve learned however that we become wired to seek pleasure instead of true happiness. Pleasure is instantly available at all times through things like social media, video games, entertainment, and fast & convenient foods.
But, do these pleasurable things really make someone truly happy?
I think most of us can agree that they don’t. Instead they cost us our money, time, and happiness continues to allude us.
Happiness normally comes from things we avoid doing the most. Studying to get better at a skill, training and eating for great health, committing to a relationship, or have a spiritual life (if you’re spiritual).
Ask yourself about when you did the hard or difficult thing and succeeded, how did that make you feel? It normally followed an internal sense of fulfillment, boost in confidence and you wanting to see if you could achieve more.
That’s what happiness is, it’s continually seeking those difficult, uncomfortable, and sometimes painful things that will force us to grow mentally, physically, and spiritually.
We’re sold pleasure in our society which are those moments of instant gratification causing us to believe happiness is a destination as well. We live on “one day” island, we compare ourselves to others wishing to have someone else’s life based off their highlights on social media, or escape for a moment in time through food, drugs or entertainment.
True happiness in life comes from going through the difficult, uncomfortable things that force us to grow and evolve. Happiness is not some destination you seek instead its a journey you endure and persist through, knowing you’re becoming a better version of you. This normally has a domino effect by inspiring and effecting those around you leading to a sense of purpose.
When you look at the universe it’s constantly evolving and changing. Nothing stays the same. As humans we’ve had to evolve and must continue to evolve in order to not only survive but to be truly happy. I‘ve come to realize that the purpose in life is not to be happy (at least not how we’re taught). Instead it’s be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to make a difference by constantly evolving and growing in whatever you’re called to do. Lastly it’s to leave this world a little bit better than you found it for the next generation.
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Thank you for reading!
In health,
Wendell Christian Jr