The Science of Happiness

Mankind’s one of the ultimate goals in life is 'HAPPINESS', I believe you agree with me here.

Image source: Pixabay

To see if it is true, well, you can strike a conversation with any person and after a couple of “WHY” later you will inevitably arrive at 'Happiness'.

Let’s check this out.

A conversation with a friend might go like this:
 Hey what is your goal?
• Well, I shall first get a great job.
 Is that your goal?
• No not really. Then, I will make lots of money.
 Is that your goal?
• No not really. With that , I shall buy a home.
 Is that your goal?
• Yes.
 Why?
• It makes me Happy.

A similar conversation with the younger generation might go like this.
 Hey, what is your goal?
• Find a girl/ boy friend.
 Is that your goal?
• No. find a soulmate
 Is that your goal?
• No. Get married.
 Is that your goal
• Yes
 Why?
• It makes me happy.

A conversation with a runner.
 What do you want to do?
• I want to be healthy.
 why?
• so that I can run faster?
 why?
• So that I can win a marathon
 Why?
• that makes me happy

Ask any one on steemit.
 What do you want to do here on steemit?
• I want to be write blogs and post some videos and photos.
 why?
• So that I can add more value to steemit?
 why?
• So that I can get a bigger payout
 Why?
• So that I can buy my dream house and vacation
 Why?
• That makes me happy

To put it simply, it does not matter what you do and where you are. You are always in the pursuit of happiness.

But then again, as you see above, Happiness is one of those magic words that means different to different people.

Is happiness a single all encompassing word or are there more flavours to it? I have reasons to believe there are many flavors to it.

Let’s get this straight. There are billions of humans around and so there are million shades to this happiness. Each person's happiness is his own. His own experience, his own feeling.

But what if we attempt to understand happiness within a more formal and generalized framework ?

Well ..the happiness that we are considering today can be broadly classified into 3 forms.

Lets check the first one.

Happiness derived from Pleasure.

Image Source: Pixabay

We, humans are inherently a pleasure seeking society. We believe that spending our energy, seeking pleasure leads us to happiness.

The stimuli for this type of happiness comes from an external source, say a hearty meal, making love, steem prices going up, an ice cream and so on.

Pleasure always happens as a positive experience to our physical senses and when it happens it creates moments of happiness.

But the extent of happiness derived from pleasure lasts only as long as the external stimuli are present. During the stimuli, the pleasure reaches its peak very fast and for a short duration and the feeling of happiness lasts only during that short span of time.

Once the stimuli is gone, happiness also recedes away. So in order to have longer duration of happiness through pleasure, one must expose oneself to repeated external stimuli.

In simple words, the happiness due to pleasure can be described as thus. One moment it is there. you are eating an ice cream or making love and then immediately after you are finished with your ice cream or making love and happiness quotient drops drastically. the pleasure is no more there. the happiness curve goes flat till next time you get another high with another dose of an ice cream or love making or whatever that gives you the pleasure.

This happiness screams "ME, ME, ME and more ME. The seat of happiness by pleasure lies in the 5 physical senses of our body. It is all about our body and the senses when it comes to this happiness.

But then, this type of happiness is the shortest lasting. Interestingly, a majority of the humans mostly reside in this sphere of happiness.

In a nutshell,

Happiness derived from Passion:

Image Source: Pixabay

We have often heard the term “ follow your passion” it is purported that following passion leads to immense happiness and fulfilment which is true to a certain extent.

Being passionate means being in energy zone, also gives a sense of freedom, a sense of achievement,.

In my introduction blog, one of my heading was "My Passion" I am passionate about riding my motorcycle as long and as far as possible when ever the opportunity arises.

Some are passionate about sports, say marathon, some are passionate about blogging (you get a whole bunch of dudes passionate about blogging, right here on steemit).

The happiness generated from passion lasts moderately longer in duration.sometimes days, months or even years. It is also a flow, where peak performance meets peak engagement as the time flies.

the engagement is more deeper and longer here and happiness lingers a bit longer than the pleasure state.

This state of happiness can be stated as "being in the zone". it's scope is much wider and longer than the pleasure.

The seat of happiness by passion lies in the heart of a person.

Here happiness is derived from an external entity that we are emotionally attached to very intensely, like art, cookery or motorcycle or things like that.

This type of happiness is the moderate lasting.

In a nutshell,

Happiness derived from Purpose

Image source: Pixabay

As mentioned above, when a person gets too passionate about something, it might possibly lead to a larger purpose in life. Not necessarily though.

Now higher purpose in life is something much bigger than a person. It encompasses a much larger diaspora, the purpose transcends beyond the “Me (pleasure) and Mine (passion)”. That’s when you look beyond , something bigger, larger than life and larger than the person himself.

To give a larger picture let me give you an example of a person who found lasting happiness in higher purpose in her life.

Saalumarada Thimmakka is an 103 year old Indian environmental activist who single handedly and single mindedly planted over 384 banyan trees along a 4 kms stretch long highway near her hometown in south India.. She did not stop at that. she continued and planted over 8000 trees in 80 years.

She is an illiterate woman from a tiny village in Karnataka, South India and her Late husband was a daily wage laborer, to whom she was given in marriage. When she could not conceive any child after a decade in wedlock and when there were no happiness whatsoever in her poverty ridden life, what she did was something astonishing to bring happiness in her life. She chose a higher purpose.

Thimmakka with the trees she planted and nurtured.
http://www.rejectedprincesses.com/blog/modern-worthies/saalumarada-thimmakka

She started to plant Banyan saplings along the national highway near her village and nurtured them for years till they became strong. She took care of the trees like her own children and derived immense everlasting happiness in the whole process.

Saalumarada Thimmakka was listed by British Broadcasting Corporation as one of the most influential and inspirational women of the world.

Ok, coming back to the topic, the happiness derived from a larger purpose, transcends all boundaries and there are no limitations.

among the 3 type of happiness, this is the longest lasting one.
The seat of happiness by greater purpose lies in the soul of a person.

Look at the people who are in pursuit of a higher purpose in life. when you walk with purpose, you collide with destiny - Bertice Berry.

there is another interesting aspect of this 3 types of happiness.

Pleasure screams "Me Me Me". It's all about personal gratification which of course is temporary and lasts only for a short duration.

Passion is a bit more accommodating. It says "Mine, Mine, Mine"the slightly wider scope of attachment that encompass what you are passionate about. It lasts for a moderate duration.

Purpose: is much bigger than a person and it encompasses the larger society and it is also selfless. This happiness says - "You, You, You"

Image Source: Pixabay

And finally an important thing to remember. Let Happiness come in any manner. Be it through pleasure, passion or a purpose. Remember that Happiness lies within you. Happiness is never outside you. It's always within you. If you want to be happy, you can. No matter the external circumstances. Happiness is inside YOU.

The happiness circle :)