Thruout life the happiness indicator worm of
an individual fluctuates up and down between the
flowers and the mire
as it blindly ingests its current diet
of unpredictable circumstances.
Individuals find themselves enmeshed in situations over which they have little
or no control.
They inherit abnormal physical attributes or are exposed to poverty or
war.
They imbue personal factors like health,
fame and sexual fulfillment with
widely variable levels of importance.
Happiness is a very personal matter and no two
worms will ever follow the same path thru time.
Happiness, as some sort of elevated and enduring state of contented equanimity,
is probably aspired to by most individuals.
One the one hand, although is possible to be unhappy and not be consciously
aware of the fact, just as one can be ill and not realize it,
most individuals know when they are in the muck.
On the other hand it is one of the enduring ironies of life that when one is
actually in a balanced condition amidst the flowers,
in the absence of uncomfortable and disturbing influences, it usually
takes an effort of introspection to be self-consciously
aware
that one is in fact experiencing happiness.
Only when severe disruption is encountered
and a descent into the mire occurs does the appreciation emerge that one had
actually been in a happy state.
In an attempt to be aware of one's state and to control the fluctuations, one internal
strategy is to
try and negate the source of perceived unhappiness.
Remove the source, or reconfigure the cause,
or extract oneself from the circumstances and the happiness state can be acquired
...so one hopes.
If one wants to participate in life and not endure in some form of
suspended animation, happiness is not an attainable
permanent human condition.
Like space and time it is inseparably relative to individual experiences.
Just as curvature requires straightness for its
measurement,
light is compared with dark,
and life is juxtaposed with death,
so happiness only acquires
significance when compared with its perceived opposite.
It can never be an absolute state to be sought and aspired to.
Since life is characterized by a complete absence of any property which humans conceive as
fairness, attempting to acquire a permanent state of unassailable happiness
is both frustrating and futile.
Whenever such a dedicated search is embarked upon however, various means are
self-prescribed at some stage in the pilgrimage.
Money, sex, religion,
travel,
fame, health, danger and so on,
have all been found to assist in facilitating the happiness condition,
but just like drugs,
determining the appropriate dose is the clever bit.
Fame for example, becomes addictive and requires larger and larger doses which
eventually suppress reality.
Religion is best if homeopathic quantities are administered.
As far as money is concerned, large doses can be often be extremely beneficial,
such as when the altruistic
provision of basic necessities and corrective medical
intervention is able to alleviate much in the way
of deprivation and physical affliction.
Pragmatism therefore is the only realistic fallback strategy.
If something appears to have the potential for happiness
or to compensate for an unhappiness, and it's available, and there are no
obviously unpleasant unhappiness inducing consequences,
there would seem to be little point in passing up the opportunity.
One would only make oneself unhappy worrying about it.
Happiness may only be found by those fortunate enough to exist
in circumstances conducive to its attainment and who are prepared to reflect
on their own good fortune.
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