Generally, we have been taught and almost programmed to believe that we live to be happy, and that our aim of life as humans is to be happy. And that belief and its practice has some adverse effects to it.
Happiness is an emotion and some emotions can easily fade. Being overly concerned about your happiness can lead you to do things that do not yield long-term benefits but only short-lived results.
Have you ever reprimanded or advised someone and their response was "as long as I'm happy" or "It makes me happy"? The chase for happiness is what can influence you into living for the now, being focused on instant gratification.
Happiness is produced by the dopamine hormone, aka the happy hormone. This hormone is produced in our brains when we experience something pleasurable.
Now imagine, how many not-so-worth-it activities that produce this hormone.
The chase for happiness makes one indulge in such activities, to extremity at times.
The most common of such activities is indulging in alcohol and other substances. Because these can make one feel "happy", no matter how short-lived that feeling is, people will do it over and over again. Purely because it makes them happy, and after all that is the aim of life - so they would claim.
Irrespective of how one's life is going, whether sad or depressed, they chase such happiness and would do anything to get this dopamine hormone activated.
This chase of happiness is not really ideal. The best way to lead a fulfilling life is to embrace contentment.
The more grateful and content you are with what you have, the better you feel and the better you do.
Contentment or the aim for it has way more benefits compared to the chase for happiness.
A basic definition of contentment is a state of being satisfied with one's current situation and their state of affairs.
This goes hand in hand with being grateful, and the results of these transcend into the psychological and spiritual realms of an individual. The more stable you are psychologically and spiritually, the better you become, and therefore do better - in all areas of your life.
The happiness that most people chase lasts for only a couple of minutes or hours. After that, one is back to their state of misery and sadness. However, contentment, on the other hand, brings a never-ending sense of appreciation of life.
Being content does not mean being comfortable in whatever suffering you may be faced with. Be content that you have what you have, and be grateful for good health but aim to improve your state of affairs for the better.
I believe for better fulfilment, one needs to embrace contentment rather than over-concerning themselves with happiness. Embracing contentment has way better ROI than aiming for happiness.
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