With this piece, I aim to explore the depths of happiness, how people treat happiness as a panacea for grief, and how it has become more strenuous today than ever before to live a happy life without difficulties. So, what is life? What is happiness? What is the relation between happiness, life, and grief? What is the difference between a fancy life (often defined as a happy life) and a meaningful one?
The scientific description of life is “a distinctive characteristic of living organisms from dead or non-living things, as specifically distinguished by the capacity to grow, metabolize, respond (to stimuli), adapt, and reproduce.” However, in the philosophical world, we mainly understand the meaning of life through four categories, namely, life has an objective meaning, life has a subjective meaning, life has no meaning, and life has supernatural/unexplainable meaning. Different terms have been introduced over time that attempt to define the philosophical meaning of life, like, natural pantheism (care for nature), theism (follow God’s will), platonism (acquire maximum knowledge), nihilism (do as you wish; life has no meaning), and the latest, absurdism (stop trying to find a meaning; just live). And the list goes on and on. Basically, people invented new terms every century or so as per their needs and the mentalities popular during that time period.
Every single term that was introduced hardly talked about the real need for and meaning of happiness in our lives. Humans have maintained a well-organized chart of life, and as we can see from the above-mentioned terms, they’ve also updated the list from time to time. “Happiness in life” and “a sure-shot way to lead a happy life” are the two essential jewels that seem to have been skipped while preparing this list. Maybe that’s the reason mankind is still far from living a happy life. By “living a happy life”, I don’t mean a “successful” life. It is true that success can be a good source of happiness. However, it doesn’t work that way sometimes. People often think that having luxuries or being successful is synonymous with being happy, but that is a grave misinterpretation.
Then what exactly is happiness and what is the relationship between life, grief, and happiness? Well, there’s no absolute answer to this, but we can still try to figure it out. Happiness is inversely proportional to grief and vice-versa, but what’s more fascinating is that while grief is a necessary component of life, happiness is a choice that we make. The Lebanese-American writer and poet, Khalil Gibran, in the early part of the 20th century, said, “The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain,” giving the idea that losing a beloved pet, going through heartbreak, facing business losses, or dealing with bad health, in some way or the other, might take us one step closer to joy.
A life full of walls engraved with golden tales of victory, fancily clad torsos, never-emptying glasses of champagne, and a mesmerising jazz of dazzling parties is what many of us consider to be the idea of achieving the true essence of happiness. But many people face a cold darkness behind those ever dazzling golden bars of fantasy. What gives real meaning to one’s life is not a particular stage of life, but the whole journey in and of itself—including both pain and love, silence and peace, profits and losses, favours and betrayals. All of us have our own reasons for grief, and in some way or the other, many of us are responsible for them. Looking for approval from others, having negative thoughts about our bodies, holding ideas about the perfect partner and a perfect, rich life that will arrive at our doorstep, procrastinating, carrying emotional baggage, getting jealous and insecure, and holding infinite expectations are some of the most common reasons for our torment.
Albert Einstein once said, “If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or objects.” Philosophy gives you the freedom to look at things from a broader perspective, but life often asks you to take things the way they are. Nonetheless, do what you can to make the most of the moments in your life, cherish the happiness, and have constant faith. No matter what comes your way, what matters is embracing the joy and the agony, believing in the fullness of your destiny, behaving politely even in the face of betrayals, and praising others even when you’re falling behind. These are the most challenging times that life confronts us with; it's the toughest pitch, but here’s the key: the longer one stays on it, the happier they become.
By-
Gracy Rai
BMMMC Department
Second Year
[Edited By: Sadhvi Pandey and Shreya Jathavedan
Art Curated by: Guniya Sharma]
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