The Pursuit of Happiness

Happiness has been one of the constitutional themes ever since the United States Declaration of Independence (1776), with currently 31 states having introduced happiness in their constitutions. It is present in the Constitutions of Japan (1947), South Korea (1948), France (1958 – preamble) and Bhutan (2008). Bhutan even introduced the concept of Gross National Happiness

Likewise, the French Declaration of Human and Civic Rights (of 26 august 1789) as well as the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man (adopted by the Ninth International Conference of American States, Bogota, Colombia, 1948) mention happiness.

 The General Assembly of the United Nations Organisation proclaimed March 20th as the International Day of Happiness. At that time it approved a resolution addressing happiness as a right and exhorted all of the countries to consider it in the development of their public policies.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” -- Thomas Jefferson

Many people consider happiness as the single most important thing in life. You would assume that valuing happiness would allow us to be happier. However, I recently came across a very interesting article, authored by Iris B. Mauss, Maya Tamir, Craig L. Anderson and Nicole S. Savino, accessible through the National Institute of Health (NIH).

What is happiness?

The definition of ‘happiness’ is:

which leads us to the definition of ‘happy’:

Putting these two together we find that happiness is the state of feeling or showing pleasure or contentment. This gives us a few important points about happiness:

1. Happiness is a state, not a trait; in other words, it isn’t a long-lasting, permanent feature or personality trait, but a more fleeting, changeable state.

2. Happiness is equated with feeling pleasure or contentment, meaning that happiness is not to be confused with joy, ecstasy, bliss, or other more intense feelings.

3. Happiness can be either feeling or showing, meaning that happiness is not necessarily an internal or external experience, but can be both.

And there will be many definitions or interpretations out there; I believe it's safe to say there are as many definitions of happiness as there are people, since what makes us happy can be pretty unique.

“The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us.” -- Ashley Montagu

Setting the goal of being happy

I have talked about the importance of goal setting in a few of my previous articles (see ‘Be SMARTER about your goals.’).

When we apply that to for example academic achievement, career goals, becoming good at playing the piano, there is sufficient evidence that setting a very clear and specific (and attainable) goal will help you put more effort and time into attaining this goal, which will lead to better results (higher academic scores, playing Fur Elise like Beethoven intended, …

People’s values determine not only what they want to achieve but also the standards against which they evaluate their achievements. The person who highly values academic achievement and wants to achieve high grades is bound to be disappointed at times when he or she falls short of these high standards.

In the case of academic achievement, this may not matter for the goal at hand – someone can feel disappointed but still achieve high grades, even be fired on by a temporarily setback (although this will be linked to the person’s mindset, which I will come back to in another article).

However, in the case of happiness, this feature of goal pursuit (the opposite of what we want to achieve) may lead to paradoxical effects, because the outcome of one’s evaluation (i.e., disappointment and discontent) is incompatible with one’s goal (i.e., happiness).

I do want to emphasise that the study refers to this as the “outcome of one’s evaluation”: we are talking here about an interpretation that we give to a result. It’s our own perception of the outcome that classifies it as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, it’s the perception that associates meaning to the event and ultimately creates the feelings we have around those results (whether it’s excitement or disappointment).

I came across a marvellous quote from the Dao De Jing (the book on Daoism, written by Lao Tzu around the 4th century BC):

It points to the same concept: by naming something as good (or something that will create happiness), we also create the idea of the opposite. And so when a certain event, result, … does not conform to our definition of happiness, it leads to unhappiness, disappointment. Which stops us from attaining what we want all along.

Happiness is important

Attaining happiness is a global pursuit. Researchers find that people from every corner of the world rate happiness more important than other desirable personal outcomes, such as obtaining wealth, acquiring material goods, and getting into heaven.

Happy people:

-      are more productive

-      are healthier, typically following a healthier diet

-      feel good about themselves and life in general

-      have a better immune defence system (quite important in these times)

-      have less stress

-      sleep better

-      might even live longer

-      …

But what do we do when the very pursuit of happiness can be self-defeating?

“If you want happiness for an hour — take a nap.'

If you want happiness for a day — go fishing.

If you want happiness for a year — inherit a fortune.

If you want happiness for a lifetime — help someone else.”

-- Chinese proverb

1. Keep doing your goals setting for anything but happiness: SMARTER goal setting will help you attain other goals that do benefit from defining them and aligning your values and actions in order to achieve them. And since you are focusing on something else, attaining those goals might (accidentally) lead to happiness.  

2. Focus on other people: if we put our efforts in being there for others, to help without expecting something in return, we might find that the fulfilment we get from that equals happiness (for them as much as for ourselves).

“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” -- Buddha

Take care of yourself and each other.

Recommended Reading:

“The Art of Happiness” by 14th Dalai Lama & Howard C. Cutler:

“The Art of Living” by Thich Nhat Hanh: https://plumvillage.org/books/the-art-of-living/