Is Happiness Overrated? A Different Perspective
Why chasing happiness might be making you miserable, and what to pursue instead
“Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.” — Henry David Thoreau
Is happiness overrated?
The question itself may sound blasphemous. After all, we are hit left and right with the idea that the pursuit of happiness, no matter what it costs, is the be-all and end-all of life.
Self-help books guarantee that mystifying formula for eternal bliss, while social media influencers sell their picture-perfect lives as the epitome of joy.
But what if we have just been running after the wrong thing all along?
I remember the day I realized I might be barking up the wrong tree. I lay there, spread out on my couch, barricaded in by a fortress of dead ice cream cartons and self-help books.
For three months straight, I had been following — religiously — every happiness hack I could find. From gratitude journaling to positive affirmations, from meditation apps touting nirvana in just 10 minutes a day, I did it all.
