The Art Of Happiness: Stop Chasing Happiness

Chasing Happiness
I believe that most of us want to be happy. We spend a lot of time chasing happiness. In fact, we spend good money on chasing happiness. Of course, if we would be honest with ourselves, we would admit that money won’t truly buy happiness. Moreover, we need to stop basing our happiness on how happy we are according to our current circumstances and emotions at the time. Does your happiness depend on how you feel at the moment? How is it going with you today? How are you feeling? Is your happiness relegated only by your emotions? Or can you measure happiness in some other terms besides your emotional state at a given moment? Is your happiness determined by your current situation? And is your happiness wrapped up in the things you have?
I was one of those people who was continually chasing happiness too. I was constantly looking for the next thing that will make me happy. Pursuing one thing after another. Whether it be a job or the latest and newest trinket to come along. But I often found after I got what I wanted that the thing I was chasing after wasn’t what I had hoped for. If you believe that by having the latest new iPhone to come out will make you happy then your happiness will only last as long as until the next newest and latest iPhone comes out. And if you are thinking that if you could just win the lottery, then you’d be happy, you are in for a surprise. Most lottery winners wind up broke and depressed in an unexpectedly short time. According to a Time Magazine article; “About 70 percent of people who suddenly receive a windfall of cash will lose it within a few years, according to the National Endowment for Financial Education.” The happiness only lasts until the money runs out.
Money Can’t Buy Happiness
Contrary to what many people believe, happiness is not something you can buy or possess. You might be thinking that you will be happier living in a big house and driving an exotic car. As great as those things may sound, they can also be a pitfall. There is a happiness that comes from buying nice things, but that happiness doesn’t last. Things wear out and break down, and the newness wears off. Material things only bring a temporary happiness, and then there is a need for something new to fill that void. Then, once again, you’re left chasing happiness all over again. Looking for some else, something new.
The Pursuit Of Happiness And The American Dream
A part of the American Dream is “the pursuit of happiness.” But for many, the pursuit of happiness has become consumeristic, as if the American Dream is for sale for anyone who can afford to buy it. There are some who believe that the American Dream has become the pursuit of material gain. Bigger houses, fancy cars, big screen TV’s, diamonds, gold, and silver. But some of those things are beyond the grasp of the working person who struggles just to get by. However, the American dream is not just for the wealthy.
The American Dream was first coined by James Truslow Adams in 1931 who in his book, The Epic Of America, wrote: “The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” He went on to say that it is not, “… a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”
Know Yourself
Take the time to know yourself. What are your values, what is genuinely important to you? Do you know what your priorities are? Start by writing these things down. Get to know what are the most important things are in your life. Then take the time to think about where your priorities are. Otherwise, you will only be pursuing things that don’t matter, chasing happiness all over again.
After determining what your priorities are in life you can focus exclusively on what is most important to you. Rather than pursuing every whim and desire that comes along, focusing on what is truly important to you will move you in the direction that you actually want for your life. You will find yourself much happier and more confident with your life.
The biggest problem with chasing happiness is not knowing what really makes you happy. That’s why you keep buying things that you think are going to make you happy. And that’s why you keep moving from one job to another. None of these things satisfy for long. Most of those things are not what is really important to you.
Own Your Emotions
A lot of people judge their happiness based on how they feel at the moment. They only feel happy when things are going their way. The problem with that is life is never always perfect. And if you base your happiness on how you are feeling at any given moment and whether things are going according to your wishes, you’ll never be truly happy. Your happiness will come and go depending on your current situation.
This perpetual need to feel happy is what perpetuates consumerism. But buying more stuff is not the answer. All that does is clutter up your life and make you go broke. Don’t base your happiness on what things you have, things can be taken from you, things that can wear out or break. And don’t base your happiness on how well things are going at the moment.
Happiness is an attitude. And you can choose your attitude. Even if things are not going as you would like at the moment, you can choose to be happy. A person who can choose to be happy even when things are not going as you would hope or plan is someone who can make good things happen. It doesn’t do much to change things by complaining how things are. But choosing to do something about your situation can. Stop chasing happiness and choose to be happy. That’s the first step in the art of happiness.
Own Your Life
Take responsibility for the direction of your life. If you don’t like how things are, do something about it. Take a positive approach rather than a negative one. Instead, be more proactive rather than reactive. Do things that add value to your life. Take control of the direction of your life. Take control of your attitude. And thus, take control of your happiness.
But you can only do this if you know who you are and what you truly want in your life. Once again, I recommend that you take the time to write down your values and your priorities.
Work every day to make your life better.
Do something every day to move your life forward. My motto is: Keep Moving Forward. Every day is another day to move forward with my life. I am not waiting until everything is perfect. I’m not waiting until things are going my way, I choose to keep moving forward with my life, I choose to do something every day to make my life better. Choose to do something that will add value to your life and make your life better.
Know Who You Are. Know What You Really Want
I couldn’t do that if I didn’t know what I actually want in and for my life. It all starts with knowing who you are and what you really want. But all too often we try to fit ourselves into boxes that other people think is good for us. We take jobs that we have been told will make us happy and successful. We buy things that we are told that we need.
But what do you really want? Sadly, most of us spend the better part of our lives chasing the wrong goals and the wrong things. Worse yet, some of us attain our goals and get what we are chasing after, only to find that it isn’t fulfilling, it isn’t satisfying, or it isn’t what we expected or what we are hoping for. Many people just drift through life, never figuring out what they really need and want, waiting for retirement and then still not knowing what they want. Or worse yet, disillusioned with how life has turned out.
It takes a conscious effort to think through the question of what you really want in your life. It requires asking the questions. And it requires taking the time to find out what do you really want and what will give meaning and purpose to your life.
Ditch the fluff and clutter
When we don’t know what we want, we clutter our lives with things without realizing how much those things can weigh us down. To find real happiness and get what you truly want, you need to find your focus. The problem is, we want everything, we’re not focused.
I don’t know anyone who seriously believes you can buy happiness. But many live as though they believe it. The end result is discontentment and disillusionment. And the need to declutter their home.
Be Happy
Are you happy? Being happy is more than an emotional feeling. And being happy doesn’t have to be conditional on your situation or environment. Being happy regardless of your situation or your emotions at any given time is key to the art of happiness. The art of happiness is thinking positive, being proactive, having purpose and direction in your life, and most of all; begin practicing gratitude.
Are you happy? Try being thankful for what you do have. Try helping others less fortunate than you are. And try sharing what you have and know to help others find happiness in their lives. That is the art of happiness.
