The word happy is one of the most used words when people express satisfaction/fulfillment or lack of it in their lives. Happiness has made and marred many lives. I began to wander why that which ought to be a blessing has turned out to be a curse instead. Why is this so?.
I want to make a plea to my readers, please this topic is a lengthy one. For ease I will break it into 3 parts and I pray you be patient and tenacious enough to read all for it will bless your life.
Kendra Cherry in her Very Well article described Happiness as
“an emotional state characterized by feelings of joy, satisfaction, contentment, and fulfillment “.
Kendra Cherry
James Clear also defined it as
“the ability to not want more; to find gratitude and satisfaction in the moment that you have right now”.
James Clear
Reading an article done by ‘The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica’ and recently revised and updated by Adam Agustyn I readily agree with most of what their research based write up posits. These are some of what I gleaned from their article.
In psychology happiness is defined as
“a state of emotional well-being that a person experiences either in a narrow sense, when good things happen in a specific moment, or more broadly, as a positive evaluation of one’s life and accomplishments overall—that is, subjective well-being”.
Some Psychologists have also proposed a number of different theories to explain how people experience and pursue happiness.
One of these theories is : Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.This hierarchy of needs suggests that people are motivated to pursue increasingly complex needs. As people meet more of their basic needs they go in pursuit of more of their inner psychological and emotional needs. At the apex of this hierarchy is the need for self-actualization, or the need to achieve one’s full potential. As people’s experiences peak in these pursuits, especially during moments of great achievement, they feel really happy and joyful.
More research done around the more inclusive concept of subjective well-being, are mostly characterized by a broad collection of happiness-related phenomena rather than a specific momentary emotion. People who are happy in a broad collective way tend to experience frequent positive emotions and infrequent negative emotions.
It is noteworthy that this broader form of happiness is not purely emotional, but has a cognitive component. Intelligence and wisdom is brought to bear in this kind of happiness. When these happy people are asked to think back on the conditions and events in their lives, they evaluate these conditions and events positively. These kind of happy people report being satisfied with their lives and the various aspects of their lives that made that possible.
One thing though stood out with these people because despite the fact that they experienced a great deal of negative emotions yet, their lives despite these negative conditions are good and happy. These are mostly people who work in hospitals, fire men and most others that work with the poor, the sick, or the destitute. So despite the fact that they mostly experience negative emotions, yet they are satisfied with their lives because their work is worthwhile.
On the other hand, the people who spend most of their time engaging in hedonistic pleasures, experience frequent momentary positive emotions, but feel their lives are empty and meaningless.
There are two key components of happiness (or subjective well-being) according to these researchers:
- The Balance of Emotions; meaning that everyone experiences both positive and negative emotions, feelings, and moods, but happiness is generally linked to experiencing more positive feelings than negative.
- Life Satisfaction which relates to how satisfied you feel with different areas of your life including your relationships, work, achievements, and other things that you consider important.
These subjective well-being researchers posits various factors that influence these distinct components. To read the full version of this article, click on this link. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fuxing
Looking closely at happiness I have come to realize that one thing the pursuit of happiness has done to many people is that they have tended to remove God from the very epicenter of their lives. These people are ignorant of the fact that happiness isn’t a state of constant euphoria. Instead, happiness should be likened to experiencing more of positive emotions than negative ones.
Happy people actually feel the whole range of human emotions, from anger to frustration, loneliness, boredom, and even sadness. What makes the difference is that these happy people when faced with discomfort, have an underlying sense of optimism that things will get better after whatever the negative emotions they are facing dies down.
Once people realize that happiness is a choice that they have to make, their lives becomes a lot easier and things that seem to bug them down loses their power. With so much going wrong daily in our world lately it takes a very determined and focused person to really navigate through each day and be in control of every situation no matter what.
Lately I have come to terms that most of the challenges relationships of all kind face is hinged on the word ‘Happiness’. Marriages are breaking up like never before and if you dare to ask the disengaging couples what the problem is they both will tell you that they are no-longer happy.
This happiness issue cuts across all other relationships. People do not want to stay in any kind of relationship where their basic need for happiness is not guaranteed. This pursuit of happiness has been the very reason for early demise of very a-many relationships and partnerships.
A closer look at this happiness quest is lack of the fact that most people have been deceived because they do not really have a better understanding of what and who constitutes happiness.
I really think people have been lied to for ages and have been bewitched. This is because billions of people have not come to the fact that what they call and seek for in Happiness can only be found in a person.
Error, error erro you must be shouting right now. But please do not be angry, stay with me and we will unravel this truth I posit. The understanding and application of this very complex word and the person it personifies, to everyday living will save many relationships and also improve the wellbeing of so many unhappy people in our world today.
Let us start from the very beginning of time and trace happiness. Adam and Eve lost dominion of the earth and a most amazing relationship with the God of the university because the devil altered their view of what happiness is. There they were, having the best of a life and not knowing good and evil before the evil one came and corrupted the perfect lives they had.
All they ever needed was all that God gave them, and all they needed to do was to obey simple instruction, which was to never eat of a particular tree. It was that simple disobedience that cost them, you and I, of all that we could have been and done in God.
From the beginning of creation, the devil has always sort after all that God loves and his intention is to have all that God says He loves. So if he cannot have what God loves, he corrupts it. Didn’t the bible tell us that
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…”
John 10:10 [NIV]
And it is the same bible that warns us
” ….be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour ” .
1st Peter 5:8 [NIV]
When we all know that the evil one is roaming about looking for what and who to steal, destroy, kill and devour we will be very very careful and alert. One thing that is comforting though is that the anchor of our hope the Lord Jesus
“…has come that we may have life, and have it to the full “.
John 10:10 [NIV]
Human quest for happiness must and can only be found in simple child-like obedience to instructions given to us by the sovereign all-knowing and powerful God. You will notice that any time man reasons God’s instructions away they loose the much sort after happiness they disobeyed God to have.
It is like the more we disobey, the more the much sort after happiness vanishes. If you are true to your-self you will attest to the fact that all the things you paid heavy prices to get never brought the much sort after happiness that it portended.
I will end part 1 of this series here, please stay with me till we bring this series to a good end.
43 Comments
Thanks for sharing. I read many of your blog posts, cool, your blog is very good. https://www.binance.com/zh-TC/join?ref=IJFGOAID
I don’t think the title of your article matches the content lol. Just kidding, mainly because I had some doubts after reading the article. https://www.binance.com/kz/register?ref=UM6SMJM3
Thank you for your sharing. I am worried that I lack creative ideas. It is your article that makes me full of hope. Thank you. But, I have a question, can you help me?
Thank you for your sharing. I am worried that I lack creative ideas. It is your article that makes me full of hope. Thank you. But, I have a question, can you help me?
This web page is really a walk-by for all of the info you needed about this and didn’t know who to ask. Glimpse here, and also you’ll definitely discover it.
I’ve read some just right stuff here. Definitely value bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how so much effort you place to create this kind of excellent informative website.
Very great post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wished to say that I have truly loved surfing around your weblog posts. In any case I will be subscribing in your feed and I hope you write again soon!
What Is LeanBiome? LeanBiome, a new weight loss solution, includes beneficial strains of gut bacteria that work fast for weight loss.
I have fun with, cause I found exactly what I used to be having a look for. You have ended my 4 day lengthy hunt! God Bless you man. Have a nice day. Bye
I was very pleased to find this web-site.I wanted to thanks for your time for this wonderful read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you blog post.
What is Aizen Power? Aizen Power is an all-natural supplement to improve overall male health.
Deference to website author, some fantastic information .
Lovely site! I am loving it!! Will be back later to read some more. I am taking your feeds also.
I am glad to be one of the visitors on this great internet site (:, regards for posting.
Helpful information. Lucky me I found your site accidentally, and I’m stunned why this accident did not came about earlier! I bookmarked it.
Some truly nice stuff on this site, I like it.
Great awesome issues here. I am very happy to see your article. Thanks so much and i am having a look ahead to touch you. Will you kindly drop me a e-mail?
You are a very capable individual!
You have brought up a very wonderful points, thanks for the post.
Some really prime blog posts on this site, saved to my bookmarks.
Wow! Thank you! I permanently needed to write on my blog something like that. Can I implement a portion of your post to my site?
What does the Lottery Defeater Software offer? The Lottery Defeater Software is a unique predictive tool crafted to empower individuals seeking to boost their chances of winning the lottery.
When I originally commented I clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Thanks!
Some truly great information, Gladiolus I noticed this.
Absolutely composed written content, thankyou for selective information.
After study a few of the blog posts on your website now, and I truly like your way of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark website list and will be checking back soon. Pls check out my web site as well and let me know what you think.
F*ckin¦ awesome issues here. I am very happy to see your article. Thank you so much and i am having a look forward to touch you. Will you kindly drop me a mail?
That is really fascinating, You are a very professional blogger. I’ve joined your feed and look forward to in quest of more of your magnificent post. Additionally, I have shared your site in my social networks!
Hello there, just was aware of your weblog via Google, and located that it is really informative. I’m gonna watch out for brussels. I will be grateful if you proceed this in future. A lot of folks shall be benefited out of your writing. Cheers!
Temp Mail This was beautiful Admin. Thank you for your reflections.
I was reading some of your blog posts on this website and I conceive this web site is really informative ! Continue putting up.
As I website possessor I believe the content material here is real superb, appreciate it for your efforts.
Thanks for your personal marvelous posting! I certainly enjoyedreading it, you might be a great authorI will always bookmark your blogand will eventually come back very soon I want to encourage youcontinue your great writing, have a nice evening!
Nice post. I learn something more challenging on different blogs everyday. It will always be stimulating to read content from other writers and practice a little something from their store. I’d prefer to use some with the content on my blog whether you don’t mind. Natually I’ll give you a link on your web blog. Thanks for sharing.
This is a topic close to my heart cheers, where are your contact details though?
I love meeting useful information , this post has got me even more info! .
I am continually invstigating online for posts that can help me. Thank you!
Hello there, I found your site via Google while looking for a related topic, your website came up, it looks great. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
I really appreciate this post. I¦ve been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You’ve made my day! Thank you again
Real Estate naturally like your web site however you need to take a look at the spelling on several of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling problems and I find it very bothersome to tell the truth on the other hand I will surely come again again.
You are my inspiration , I have few web logs and very sporadically run out from to brand.
Thank you for your sharing. I am worried that I lack creative ideas. It is your article that makes me full of hope. Thank you. But, I have a question, can you help me? https://www.binance.com/bn/register?ref=UM6SMJM3
allegheny county real estate I just like the helpful information you provide in your articles