Finding Joy: Part Two – Is Happiness Enough?

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Finding Joy: Part One – Knowing Your Toil

When contemplating joy, it is common to equate it with happiness. Is happiness sufficient? My concern regarding happiness is that it is too often viewed as something that can be manufactured. It is perceived as a temporary state entirely contingent upon external circumstances. We might ask, “Do you find happiness in your work?” the response could be affirmative—or perhaps not. However, happiness is frequently linked to an event, occasion, or experience.

Can I make you happy? It’s a question we ask of others, as though happiness can be given or taken away. This leads me to ponder whether happiness is sufficient when I truly seek joy. Is happiness merely a moment of warm pleasure or a fleeting experience with friends? And, ultimately, is that enough?

Unhappiness at Work

I often observe people who can’t even imagine happiness at work. Are you merely aiming to avoid unhappiness? Many individuals wish to go to work and survive rather than truly thrive.

You may look forward to a pleasant lunch break, a productive meeting, or perhaps a minor achievement; however, predominantly, your focus is on evading misery. You are steering clear of bullying, extraordinary pressure, or simply trying to get through the day without feeling defeated. In this context, the aspiration for happiness appears unobtainable.

There was a time in my life when work was an escape from the pain and helplessness of a failing relationship at home. Work was how I tried to survive. However abusive work might be, it was an opportunity to avoid my other misery.

In a culture of instant gratification, relentless fear of missing out and scrabbling for short-term spiritual, emotional and mental survival, grasping for whatever quick fix or quick hit can be the opiate that makes work bearable. An opiate promises bliss through painlessness and disconnection from reality. But is that happiness?

As a software developer, I remember the buzz when a piece of code worked for the first time or a project meeting went better than expected. As a business developer, I relished the gratification of a successful client meeting or getting a sign-off on a proposal.

Often, I would heighten the buzz by increasing the jeopardy: delaying the start until working all night was the only way to meet the deadline or arriving at meetings under-prepared so I could enjoy the risks of living in the moment. But this pursuit of happiness wasn’t the key to unlocking joy.

Going Beyond the Quest for Happiness

So, how do you engage with your world when you feel that happiness is insufficient?

Fundamentally, I believe we need to delve deeper. To progress beyond happiness and towards joy, you must comprehend what truly brings you to life—not merely what provides you with pleasure. This entails recognising which aspects of your identity flourish when you partake in certain activities and how your spirit reacts to opportunities and success.

While we continue to pursue happiness, we will continue to depend on the external: the behaviour of others, the experiences we consume, the environment around us, the sensations we feel, and the emotions we express.

I have worked with politicians who imagined that happiness came from status and power but lost their sense of who they were truly created to be. They thought they had found happiness in a fleeting political victory or the demise of an opponent, but it didn’t provide any lasting satisfaction.

I have worked with successful business leaders who thought happiness would be found in the next deal, a new product, more profit or recognition from their peers. However, they found themselves locked into a cycle of escalating ambition.

I have worked with innovative technologists who thought happiness would be found in the next invention, the newest application of technology, getting ever closer to the bleeding edge of what science makes possible. But somehow, they became consumed by their own brilliance and, like a shooting star, burnt out in frustration of the unobtainable.

Happiness is not Enough

In my view, the pursuit of happiness alone is inadequate. We must look beyond fleeting pleasures and understand what makes us feel truly alive—what genuinely reflects who we were created to be and what we are willing to stand up for and fight for because it is important to us. Happiness may be enjoyable, but it is not enough.