Happiness. The golden thing we’re all chasing. We see it all over social media, advertised in magazines, and fantasized on TV. It’s the laugh in slow-motion videos or the sunset behind the mountain. But is that really happiness?
We work hard. Really hard. Not always because we love our jobs or because our bosses are kind-hearted humans who hand out chocolates daily. No. We work hard because of the happiness these jobs promise.
We sacrifice sleep and drag ourselves to the gym at 5 a.m., chasing a flat belly. We drink some useless protein shakes for a six-pack that no one really cares about. We buy expensive things we don’t need with money we don’t have, to impress people who aren’t even paying attention.
We hustle now for a “one day” when we’ll finally be happy. Sadly, that day never actually comes. You see, the more money we make, the more we spend. And the more we spend, the more we need to make, just so we can spend more. It’s mind-bending, I know. But you get the idea.
As Mark Manson wisely said, happiness is not a solvable equation. In chasing happiness, we sometimes outrun it. We trade today for a someday that keeps moving further away.
The truth is, happiness isn’t a destination you reach by ticking off a checklist. It’s a long process, not a single achievement. And if we’re not careful, we’ll miss it while chasing it.
