The Myth of Measuring Happiness

The myth of measuring happiness

Are you happy? Seems like a familiar yet ridiculous question. I mean can one be happy all the time? What about the whole emotional spectrum of humanity? We surely can’t know happiness (whatever that may be) without experiencing or somewhat knowing what the opposite is.

When we try to measure happiness or try to define it, we move farther away from something that doesn’t necessarily exist in the first place. It is a construct fed to us. A convenient illusion. A star to aim at trying we may never really achieve.

Is happiness just what we choose to make it?

We can say or think that we are happy and truly believe it. Is that all it takes? If we aim at happiness and act as if it exists, then we create our own refined unique perception of the world. This doesn’t make it wrong or right. If we consciously act as if happiness exists, then we can mold happiness into our own liking. Our own little unique ship on which we sail.

You can even convince yourself you are happy during times where you don’t necessarily feel happy. If you are feeling sad, you can simply be grateful for experiencing the moment. Feel it out in its totality. Without escaping. Without condemning. Knowing that overall you are “happy”in the long run and have the faith to simply act out being happy once the sadness dissipates. It is the resistance to escape feelings other than what you think happiness is that creates drama and turmoil. What you resist persists.

What does presence have to do with happiness? What does it have to do with our overall awareness? 

Measuring happiness is separating us from the totality of presence. In essence, what we call happiness is mostly the byproduct of being present . Like joy, when we stop reaching for it and just simply let ourselves be, it naturally arises. So watch what you might call as happy. Let it marinate. Let it be without trying to catch it.

If you are present and not stuck in your head, how do you feel?

There’s a difference between admiring the butterfly that landed on your hand and catching it in a container. What we try to possess will possess us in ways unimaginable. A possession of unconsciousness and discontentment. Measuring the concept of happiness relies on a paradigm and hierarchy. Who's to say what happiness can be? Exactly. Is it just a feeling that we put a name to or is it a state of mind or way of viewing the world around us? If you attempt to measure something, you are separating yourself from it. You are missing the mark. Things can get blurry and lead you down a path of unconsciousness. 

When we think we grasp "happiness", we lose it. 
The mere act of trying to measure happiness is the antithesis of the essence of happiness. 

Measurement thrives on comparison. When we compare, we lose sight to what is of truly valuable. If being happy is such a high value, then why do we think we need a journey to get to it? If we act as if "happiness" exists, and not see it as a possibly attainable state of being, then we can be happy. There is no effort in becoming happy because that would rely on a system at play that is tied to the past. When we follow a certain system to a constructed ideal, we build rigidity and confusion around ourselves. 

If we categorize happiness, we limit what it can be. It is amorphous. To define is to limit. 
Like life, happiness is simply what we make it. Not a destination or a goal. 

What happens when we get to the desired state of happiness that we were originally seeking? We then want to go after a feeling that is even better when we become fulfilled or even complacent with a certain feeling of "happiness". The conflict stems from the desire to be happy in the first place, when in actuality it is only a concept that other people have tried to sell to us. It is something that is defined from the past and is not tangible. When one sees the emptiness in the happiness definition, they can sit with the emptiness within themselves and not be so rushed to try to fill it. It is the revolutionary act of actually feeling what's inside us without escaping, labeling or moving towards external distractions. Amazing how joy can make an appearance when we just let things be. 

No need to try to "find" happiness when you can create it right in front of you. Always. 

DG