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‘I believe that every purpose of our life is to seek happiness. That is clear. Whether one believes in religion or not, whether one believes in this religion or that religion, we are all seeking something better in life. So, I think, the very motion of our life is towards happiness…’
But is happiness a reasonable goal for most of us? Happiness can be achieved by training the mind. So happiness is an achievable goal. Freud’s belief is that one feels inclined to say the intention that man should be “happy” is not included in the plan of “creation”. This type of training had led many to the grim conclusion that the most one could hope for was “the transformation of hysteric misery into common unhappiness. From that standpoint, the claim that there was a clearly defined path to happiness seemed like quite a radical idea. As I looked back over my years of psychiatric training ,I could rarely recall having heard the word ‘happiness’ even mentioned as a therapeutic objective. Of course, there was plenty of talk about relieving the patient’s symptoms of depression or anxiety, of resolving internal conflicts or relationship problems, but never with the expressly stated goal as becoming happy.
Even the word ‘happy’ is derived from the Icelandic word ‘happ’, meaning luck or chance. Most of us, it seems, share this view of the mysterious nature of happiness. In those moments of joy that life brings, happiness feels like something that comes out of the blue.
“Training the mind” in this context not referring to “mind” merely as one’s cognitive ability or intellect. It includes “psyche” intellect and felling, heart and mind. By bringing about a certain inner discipline, we can undergo a transformation of our attitude, our entire outlook and approach to living.
Generally speaking, one begins by identifying those factors which lead to happiness and those factors which lead to suffering. Having done this, one then sets about gradually eliminating those factors which lead to suffering and cultivating those which lead to happiness. That is the way.
Our days are numbered. At this very moment, many thousands are born into the world, some destined to live only a few days or weeks, and then tragically succumb to illness or other misfortune. Others are destined to push through to the century mark, perhaps even a bit beyond, and savor every taste life has to offer: triumph, despair ,joy, hatred, and love. We never know. But whether we live a day or a century, central question always remains: What is the purpose of our life? What makes our lives meaningful?
The purpose of our existence is to seek happiness. It seems like common sense, and western thinkers from Aristotle to William James have agreed with this idea. But isn’t a life based on seeking personal happiness by nature self – centered, even self –indulgent? Not necessarily. In fact after survey has shown that it is “unhappy” people who tend to be most self focused and are often socially withdrawn, brooding, and even antagonistic. Happy people in contrast, are generally found to be more sociable, flexible, and creative and are able to tolerate life’s daily frustrations more easily than unhappy people. And, most important, they are found to be more loving and forgiving than unhappy people. Researchers have devised some interesting experiments demonstrating that happy people exhibit a certain quality of openness, a willingness to reach out and help others. We can all conduct our own experiment in the laboratory of our own daily lives. Suppose, for instance, we’re stuck in traffic. After twenty minutes it finally begins moving again at around parade speed. We see someone in another car signaling that she wants to pull into our lane ahead of us. If we are in a good mood, we are more likely to slow down and wave her on head. If we are feeling miserable our response may be simply to speed up and close the gap. ‘Well, I ‘have been stuck here waiting all this time; why shouldn’t they?
We begin, then, with the basic premise that the purpose of our life is to seek happiness. It is a vision of happiness as a real objective, one that we can take positive steps towards achieving. And as we begin to identify the factors that lead to a happier life, we will learn how the search for happiness offers benefits not only for the individual but for the individual’s family and for society at large as well.
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