Is Trying Too Hard to Be Happy Making You Sad? | The Odyssey Online
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Health and Wellness

Is Trying Too Hard to Be Happy Making You Sad?

Chasing happiness may be contributing to our inability to achieve it.

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Is Trying Too Hard to Be Happy Making You Sad?
Photo by Alexandr Baranets from StockSnap

Sometimes we find ourselves chasing trying to relive a certain feeling. Happiness, hoping it will fulfill that pleasure like it once did. Why are we trying so hard to capture a moment leading us into such a favorable emotional state? Happiness is not something you can put a price on, that's what makes it invaluable.

Maybe the reason we chase after happiness is that it is unattainable. For example, we would rather have a diamond than the rock it was chiseled out of. We like the feeling of serotonin rushing through our blood making us feel bubbly. You could call it a neurochemical con-job. It's almost like a drug addict trying to get that quick fix, those objects just grant us surface happiness-it only lasts for so long. Many people spend their lives trying to achieve this. Some make it their mission to live a life devoted to maintaining happiness. Driving them to ruin, how could something so harmless (happiness) drive someone to the extent of self-destruction?

We aren't becoming sad from trying too hard to be happy, we're becoming sad because we are trying too hard and investing money and time to put themselves in conditions that will make us happy. After time and time again not seeing any progress it feels like we're stuck in a pit that's getting deeper and deeper with every effort of them trying to escape. Happiness is not black or white, nor is there a gray area. It's an array of different colors, you could call it a color wheel. There are so many factors that work into happiness and endless possibilities. limitless like the number of colors we could generate from the color wheel. Happiness is generated through the experiences we have, the people we interact with to male those experiences are the factors. A psychology professor at Cornell University found that experiential adventures — such as travel, a concert, or viewing exhibitions — were far more powerful in shaping our lives and boosting our happiness. Happiness is a byproduct of doing things that are challenging, meaningful, beautiful, and worthwhile.

The thing about happiness is that it isn't forever. That is something we all have to accept about life. For every good thing in this world, there is something to counter it. Where there's success there's failure, if there's triumph there's defeat. Therefore if there's happiness, there is sadness. The concept could be difficult to grasp at times but it's something we have to accept or else we'll be going through life as if it's a fairytale.

Finding happiness shouldn't feel like you're going through a perpetual cycle. You could definitely create happiness, but you cannot force it. We might start to lose hope, feel like we've run out of options, and put yourself in unwarranted situations because you become desperate. If you want to be filled with contentment, you need to stop forcing it. Pain is inevitable, but suffering trying to get the results you want are optional.

In the end, the best experiences come when you least expect it. Happiness can be created, but don't force happiness, it's all about not letting sadness win. Don't let desperation pave the way to personal destruction. When you're fortunate enough to experience it, bask in its warmth and enjoy it because you'll never know when it'll happen again.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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