I typed “Happiness” into Google, just to see what parts of the internet itself has to say on the matter of human happiness. No surprise as there’s a lot of “LIFE/BUSINESS COACHING”; 10 GREAT WAYS TO BE BUSINESS/CAREER HAPPY, 5 WAY TO MAKE YOURSELF HAPPY, 20 INNER BEAUTY TRICKS TO UNLEASH YOUR HAPPY. I think the word has been bitten by the bug of saturation.

There is no question as to why people ever started looking towards their dreams of simply being “happy”, because why else would anyone do that? They’re clearly fucking miserable! At times it looks a bit like a cop-out, because finding “happy” can be as easy as having a long bath, watching your favourite film, spending time with you best friend or loved one. Being “happy” has many meanings now, because there is an immediacy to it that can carefully wiggle its way into broader, all-encompassing definitions. I can say to myself I am happy, because I managed to post a video, and I am proud of it, but that overshadows the fact that it’ll be watched by less than 20 people, and nothing more will come of it. Being “happy”, it seems, has come to be shallow and meaningless, when looking at the deeper requirements it is expected to deliver.

I have smiled, laughed, joked my way through life at every opportunity; possibly to the detriment of my own welfare, but nonetheless I have been referred to as “the guy who is always happy”. I love that review. It makes me feel good to know that this is what I exude upon others. Happiness; a sense of joy, a sense of good, a healthy dose of endorphins. It does, however, mean a couple of things; I share the talents and skills of a clown, only without the magic tricks, or I do not think that, going back to the Googled definition of happy, being “happy” is nearly as important as being “content”. When people referred to me as “happy”, I fear that they believe I live the life I’ve always wanted, and that everything going on with me is good; they believe that by being “happy”, I am also “content”, which is absolutely not true.

There is one context in which the word “happy” is being used and it drives me crazy. It is the crux upon which I lean this theory of why “happy” should no longer be the word to use to describe how we desire to be, or live. The “business happy”; let’s remember that the purpose of business is to make money. That is it. With that same notion, if money is the desire, then the desire will never be satiated, therefore there is no “content”. There is no satisfaction, there is no peak. There is no high order. You can be happy, but not content.

“Happy” has become the new currency for human life, so whilst everyone is chasing it down blindly, no one seems to have figured out that “happy” has a formula. Is has a list of rules that need to be applied; “Forget your past”, “Focus on you”, “Do something kind”, “Don’t let mistakes break you”. All of these things feel loose, fickle and vague, without offering enough for a person to truly get something out of it. I’m not even going to sit here and tell you how to look for “content”, because honestly, I had to figure it out myself, and it may not work the same for everyone, but it starts with the question, am I “content” with just “happy”?