Why chasing happiness is futile?

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I have encountered a general lament from a slew of people that they aren’t happy, or “it is life”, and to placate their misery, they affirm another adage that nobody in this world is happy. It is true and we all can attest to this behaviour. We desperately wish to be happy but the larger question is – Is it at all possible?

Happiness is intrinsically an emotion facilitated by hormones namely four of them: dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin and endorphin. Whenever you feel ‘happy’ it is the result of these chemicals at work. Our brain’s abstruse structure is in a manner which can decipher our ‘reality’ and command our glands when to release these hormones at relevant situations. Thus, when you are gifted something on your birthday, purchase a new-fangled device, have sex, kiss, cuddle, hug your partner, perform a workout, achieve a goal or simply have a semblance of ‘achievement’ as expatiated by canker of social media usage or porn addiction, smoking, weed etc. your brain is inundated with those chemicals and things are pretty well for you. But, only for a while. It is a transient experience and cannot endure forever. Thus, they dissipate when our ‘reality’ transmutes to an unpleasant one. Hence, we can’t be happy interminably.
We either have to engage in a streak of rewarding work, acquire some tangible things or conceptual possessions such as status, power or success. This would mean that our situation or ‘reality’ in the current span of our perception is well-off and a new desire cannot spawn suddenly as it will again make us crave for other things. So, that’s the thing. We are trying to be ‘happy’ or make our ‘reality’ a resplendent one by acquiring some particular niche.

But, what about sadness? Anxiety? Gloom? and all other feelings which make our reality a forlorn one. Well, they stem out from the same mental framework making us perceive our reality in a fashion that doesn’t render us happy. Hence, if the environment is not a conducive one (as out emotional condition is greatly influenced by it) then we would scour for sources that would provide us with more positive emotions. This is where we feel boredom as current state of affairs don’t make us feel delighted. So people resort to a mélange of sources of pleasure and they are broadly – drugs, sex, booze and some with a mild intensity are entertainment, cinema, hanging out with friends, chatting etc.

But again, we can’t luxuriate these pleasures incessantly as they are fleeting. They might serve as a temporary source to escape reality but never a solution. It is hence, a very normal thing to not be happy. It is because of the inefficacy of our surroundings to keep us in a constant mode of ecstasy all the time. Hence, we must accept that the happiness is not just temporary but also dependent on arbitrary sources. Once I realised this, I abandoned the urge to be happy all the time. It has empowered me to focus on the work I wish to perform even if I don’t feel the urge because happiness is not what I crave for. It isn’t some end goal. It is just a consequence of conceivable future which we wish to transpire but that doesn’t work that way in real life. I find it very normal to be bored, sad or happy and because I am unfettered by all these transient emotions, I enjoy a deeper sense of peace and tranquility. Then, no matter what the situations are and their immediate effect on my emotional temperament, I can fend that.
There is a high value our society has attached to ‘being happy’ but I don’t seem to apprehend why it is so. Being unhappy is perfectly normal. And being happy is determined by chemicals and their reaction to our immediate surroundings so be cool, see things even when you aren’t happy. It is a paranoid pursuit to chase happiness. Imagine this: You are at a railway station. It is pouring heavily. You can’t find a shelter so you just board a train which would protect you from the inclement weather. However, the destination of that train is unknown. It might be deleterious to stay there if the train starts moving to an unknown destination. So, just enjoy the rain and endure it. It will go away after sometime.
Same way, I believe that we should endure unhappy and stressful situations without being tumultuous and not chase happiness.

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