Why do we feel a constant need to seek happiness in our lives?

Question

Having just answered another recently posted question "What is the meaning of life?" (or similar) with the simple solution that the meaning of life is essentially to seek happiness, we found ourselves asking the somewhat deeper question, "Why the constant need to seek this happiness?"

To be honest we're a bit stumped at this one - serious answers only please :)

Answer 1

Think perhaps happiness is sometimes mistaken for contentment .......or perhaps we settle for contentment as we get older...... Think true happiness is being content ........

Answer 2

The pursuit of happiness should be our dream and hope for our life. It is just one of the reasons for being. This gives meaning to our daily existence especially in making ourselves feel better. Happiness is highly relative. Each one of us have varying definitions of what makes us happy. No matter it is it should be our goal in life. Seeking it and finally in the end of the day if we could only say i have enough happiness then we could leave this world with excitement of our another life to eternity.
Human as we are however, unsatiable as we are, we want eternity which could never happen. Like a grain we have to die to make other grains live.
Happiness at the present world should be our aim but let us remind ourselves that there is still another life ahead of us, where there will be joy, and happiness only, no more tears, no more pains----in God's Kingdom.

Answer 3

Because happiness is a fleeting and elusive thing.
We seek happiness but when it's there are so afraid, we'd rather hide ourselves in a blanket of misery.
We seek happiness but often choose to forget that the path to that happiness sometimes means that we have to go through the door of suffering in order to attain it.
We constantly seek happiness because we dwell on the things that go wrong and take for granted that moments that count.
We seek happiness because if we don't have what others have, we think we are in some way lacking.
We seeks happiness because we have forgotten to value what's worthwhile and good and pursue it in material things and vanity, which only bring a temporary state of euphoria and then we're back to square one.
We seek happiness because we remember how good it was when we felt happy.
:-)

Answer 4

Don't know that I fully agree with you.

Maybe the goal is what many would call 'Happiness,' but for me, my goal is a sense of 'fulfilment' ~ which others might just see and mean it as the 'same difference' or 'same thing.'

To me there is a Very BIG difference.

I tend to think that other people are really careless on what they write on the labels they apply to these things, their emotions.

What I mean is, just look at how often people use the word 'Love' for things that they like. If I were an alien, then I'd imagine that the average person inhabiting the Earth was full of wonderful 'Loving feelings' (haha)

Sash.

Answer 5

Our hunter/gatherer ancestors would have spent all their time and energy in trying to survive.

They would be occupied almost constantly in finding food and avoiding predators, seeking shelter and finding mates,

They would have been so busy just trying to stay alive they probably had no concept of 'happiness'.

Perhaps now that we do not have to strive to live we need something else to reach for so we endeavour to seek happiness.

Even now people who live in harsh conditions where food and shelter is scarce probably don't think about being happy - they just think about getting through the day.

Incidentally I believe happiness is a transitory emotion like grief or anger. Contentment should really be the goal because that can be permanent and is a much more relaxed state of mind.

Answer 6

Hello,

(ANS) Your premis or arguement is based on a false assumption in my humble opinion. What do I mean?

No.1 The purpose of life "isnt always" or neccessarily to seek happiness (that might be your aim or motive but you cannot generalise to the rest of humanity though IMO).

No.2 You cannot seek happiness, why? because the more you chase happiness the more it will disappear over the horizon. The more out of reach it will appear.

Seeking happiness is a process doomed to failure, it's just like chasing your own tail.

**Happiness only arises spontanously!

**Happiness can only exsists when the conditions are right for it (yes! you can do your best to create the best possible chances for happiness to happen) Generally this is when we are free from anxiety, fear, sadness, disappiontment,etc.

**DONT confuse happiness with meaning of life! or life purpose these are very different things in my experience.

For example:- your life could be totally without meaning or purpose yet you could be very happy.

**Happiness is a "state of being" (in the here & now), its human condition NOT something that you can tick off on your "too do list" or curriculum vitae.

**Happiness is something than is only experienced by being present totally in the "now" of each moment, which would explain why so few people seem happy.

**The advertising industry in our capitolist culture is designed to make us unhappy or less contented, why? because it seeks to manipulate our mind & feelings and causes us to doubte ourselves. Makes us unhappy because we dont yet have the product or service they are pushing at us. Advertising is designed to make us unhappy, why? because happy contented people DONT buy very many products or services they are happy with what they have already.

**Many many people seek happiness through materialism or object ownership, i.e. a new car, a new house, new clothes,etc. Actually in my experience material objects have an extremely limited ability to make me happy.

**The more material objects you own or have the less contented or less happy people become. Happiness isnt found within materialism.

**Happiness has nothing to do with object ownership, or the size of your bank balance. Ask any millionaire having vast amounts of money doesnt neccessarily make you any more happy. Infact having a million £ or $ could be a massive burden in some respects.

IR

Answer 7

I don't agree that it is a CONSTANT need. More basic needs such as eating, quenching thirst, sleep etc would take priority at certain times. I would say the main reason most people work is to satisfy these needs and to seek contentment rather than happiness.
If the question is, why do people seek happiness when they can? Well, I'm not sure that it is that deep mate! Surely being happy is better than not being happy?!

Answer 8

I'm not convinced that we do have a constant need to seek happiness. Large numbers of people seek fulfillment and
obtain this through various means, not always through happiness.

Where there is a constant need to seek happiness it probably
indicates that the person involved doesn't have enough to do,
or is lacking in imagination.

Answer 9

Happiness is how we define fulfilment and our reason for being here. What is the point of a life that has no goals and consequently, no fulfilment? The meaning of life is very simple - it is whatever makes you feel worthwhile. The constant need to seek happiness is our need to enjoy our existence and feel that there is a reason that we are here.

A life without happiness, or an attempt to achieve it, is a very empty and disturbing existence.

Answer 10

The meaning of life is to find lasting happiness.Since beginingless time humankind has employed 'conflict resolution' as a psychological role model,hence the forever ongoing war with dissatisfaction.To go beyond this takes more than most folk seem willing to muster.To my mind the Buddhists hold all the cards here.No one else seems to come close.Most philosophers search for mind-candy amidst the accretions of life-habits worn sharp with time.Theists have conflict as a middle name.To answer you're question,compulsion.Craving.Stuck in a cage craving more bondage.

Answer 11

I think we are always seeking happiness because of jealously of others. When we see people with more money, girlfriend, boyfriend, children etc, we look at them and think that they look happy and that must be the reason, so we aim to get this things. When we have them however, we see people with other things that might make them happy, so strive for that. We always think if we had this or that then we would be happy making us and our life so complete, but in actually fact most people are never content with what they have so are never truely happy.