The Equation Of Happiness In Life
What’s Your Definition of Happiness ?
We have learned many equations in high school Math and Science but there is one equation which has never been taught, that is, the equation of happiness in life.
I believed each of us has our own definition of happiness. However, solemnly, happiness is also often being defined by others on behalf of ourselves.
A very classic social problem is the pressure and expectations from parents longing for their children to excel extremely well in their academic or even other aspects of life.
We have seen that in many families of the well developed nations, some children are being compared and competed in school leading to their rebellious behavior to quit school or skive classes as a sign of protest should they fail to fulfill the expectations from their parents. Thus, juvenile delinquents become a society’s problem and therefore need attention.
Throughout our life, the letters 'A’, '’B’, 'C' , 'D' become important. Toddlers started learning ABCD as the fundamental step in cognitive development and as they become older 'A' = Art, 'B' = Ballet , 'C' = Computer Class , 'D' = Drama .
These are the tuition classes children are urged to attend apart from their normal curriculum. Humorously, these letters followed them to their varsity where nowadays cross faculties studies become a norm and 'A' = Accountancy, 'B' = Business Administration, 'C' = Computer Science and 'D’= Data Analytics.
Well, what’s the bottomline ? The answer is Certification = 5Cs (Cash, Credit Card, Car, Condominium & Career) = Success, with these 5Cs being regarded as the de facto of success.
Equation 1
“Here the equation given as a common perception by many parents is Success = Happiness.”
Whilst certificate is a necessity in today’s society deriving the success of a person’s career, I think it should be an ‘estimate value' and not an 'absolute value' i.e. it serves as a guide to success and not a confirmation to success because we have seen many entry level workers performing well at work with their job experience compared to an ‘A-Stars’ fresh grad.
However, our focus here is ‘Happiness’. In the example above, success is an attribute to material gains and commoners often regards happiness with material gains. 'Does material gains yield real happiness ? — Check this at the paragraph below.
Neil Pasricha, the #1 international bestseller from the author of You Are Awesome and The Book of Awesome that “reveals how all of us can live happier. He said that
“It’s not ‘great work leads to big success, which leads you to be happy.’ It’s ‘being happy leads to great work, which leads to big success.’ (source:https://news.cuna.org)
Let’s look at another scenario.
Human as an emotional mortal is often yearning for love and kinship. Although women are holding equal rights to men in terms of social status and work, many women feel that being a virtuous mother raising kids at home and serving their worn-out husbands back from work are just enough for them. This sense of satisfaction is the love in return from their family members and thus their definition of happiness is such.
Nonetheless, the other problem which could arise from this might be the financial limitations to live luxuriously as only one of the couple is working, especially if he or she belongs to the low to middle wage group. Probably, the husband on the other hand tries to put on a hard smile in order to suppress his tiredness and pressure. 'Can this chain effect yield happiness in the long run ?”
Equation 2
“This equation spells that Love = Happiness”, a signature definition for many dating couples and married couples"
Whilst love is the magic component of life, however without knowing how to measure it’s quality, quantity and residual effect, it might be a hindrance to happiness.
In Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, there are 5 levels in the prism, with physiological needs, i.e. physical needs as the basic level, safety needs in second level, psychological needs as the next level such as relationships, love and self-esteem being the 3rd and 4th in the ladder and finally self-fulfillment needs as the final level where achieving one’s full potential becomes a satisfaction and where most people find happiness at the top of this prism.
Maslow’s rule defines that man has to achieve the basic needs in order to reach and fulfill higher needs in the prism.
The following concept which I will be sharing is totally topsy-turvy to the Maslow’s rule because happiness is often being focused at the very end or top of the prism for most.
Personally, I think that happiness should start right from the bottom as we seek fulfillment within our means while satisfying our basic needs. Happiness can be recognized and appreciated at this stage with each and every little blessings of the day.
In short, happiness can be a very simple thing such as drinking a glass of water, reading a book or enjoying a piece of cake. This short glimpse of happiness can be experienced in our daily lives.
How about a real sustainable happiness ? In a broader sense, I define happiness as ‘the fulfillment and freedom of achieving one’s physical needs, emotional needs and spiritual needs under a threat free ecosystem while keeping one’s goal.’
Equation 3
“Happiness = (Physical Needs (P) + Goal) + (Emotional Needs (E)+ Goal) + (Spiritual Needs (S)+ Goal).”
Example of Physical Needs (Physiological)
Shelter, Warm, Water, Food, etc
Example of Emotional Needs (Psychological)
Love, Approval, Esteem, Respect, etc
Example of Spiritual Needs
Healing, Empowerment of Love, Religious Belief, Self-Awareness, Inner Wisdom, etc.
Explanation - We need each of the 3 components of needs to achieve an overall sense of well being or happiness. Very clearly, physical needs focus on the body, emotional needs focus on the soul and spiritual needs focus on the spirit.
As each individual’s satisfaction level is different, therefore the fulfillment level is different.
Freedom is needed to execute these levels of fulfillment. Why ? For instance, in ancient world marriage is prearranged and women had little say over whom they married. Thus, their freedom to seek emotional needs is barred.
Ecosystem in the above ranges from personal level to family level to social level and last at country level.
Although, we may be satisfied at some point of the P, E & S, but without a goal as the driving factor, we cannot grow happiness. Hence, it means that while we attain our current physical or emotional or spiritual needs, we need a goal in place for each needs to keep on moving.
In conclusion, the answers to equation 1 scenario (lacks emotional & spiritual pursue) and equation 2 scenario (lacks physical & spiritual pursue) are ‘subjective’ but equation 3 suggested that happiness is not a single element and thus the answers to both scenarios are likely a 'No’ for the majority.
The World Happiness Report 2021 was released recently, and while the results follow previous trends (every Nordic country made the cut ). Here are 10 happiest countries in the World.
How do these countries make it and what’s your equation of happiness in life ?
