Can reaching supreme happiness be destructive?

Question

Does happiness really revolve around the journey and not the destination? Can one feel useless once the supreme state of happiness is achieved because they lack a purpose?

Answer 1

Look up the word "happiness" in any dictionary. You will not find the words "permanent" or "lasting" as a quantifying part of the description.

And yes, happiness IS the journey, not some destination. Think of it as being on a train, and the destination is your eventual death -- so make the most of the trip, but remember the the train WILL be bumpy at times and even break down for repairs.

Oh, and my philosophy is that without bad times, we wouldn't appreciate the good times. It's only through adversity that we learn and grow.

So if it WERE possible to achieve "supreme happiness," I think that rather than being destroyed, we'd merely be bored.

Answer 2

Well, let's see---would you like to live forever? Would that give you supreme happiness? On the surface, many people might say "yes". Upon reflection, however, would you really want to be guaranteed to see your mate and your children die? There's something to be said for "the beginning, the middle, and the end". There's a value in termination, at some point. So my thought is that, "yes" that could definitely be destructive/negative.

Eternity, in this example, is a long time---ask Dracula. A temporal framework, it seems to me, tends to accentuate things---good and bad, sadly---that one would miss if you knew that nothing really mattered to you personally, if you had all the time in the world. But, what about everyone else?

Let's take another example----would unlimited wealth (although you'd only live for eighty years or so) make you supremely happy? It's probably fair to say that you'd have some good times, but "Money can't buy me love", in the words of the Fab Four. All kinds of bad/destructive things happen to wealthy people. Think Princess Diana, the Kennedys, whatever.

So, my answer is that there is no such thing as supreme happiness. People being people, there will always be some kind of "situation". If I'm right there, then time, and money, and love, and kindness, and hate are all best enjoyed/experienced subject to a stop watch.

Answer 3

I sit here and I read answers about how happiness is the journey to the destination. The thing that confuses me, and it may sound silly to most, is if happiness were a destination, is it above us? Is it below us? Is it to the left, or to the right? I feel it all depends on the person in which direction happiness lies. As far as the journey goes, I feel, assuming happiness is only what the person feels it is, that there are many "destinations" one can go to. It's kind of like wanting Wendy's, but you're so hungry that you would settle for Burger King or McDonald's. And if one could achieve full and perfect happiness, assuming such a thing exists, I doubt that one would be bored, since having the perfect happiness would cause one to feel perfect euphoria.

Answer 4

I don't know wheather it's inherent in the human species or we're just made to think so but i'd say the hardest thing in life is learning how to appreciate the fruits of our labor, because ironically we seem to equate sucess with finality . . .

There's an old saying that ask's one,

what do u give the person who has every tihing they want in life?

answer . . . " The Brains To Realize It "

I think this is why people need religion also
cause the thought of going into nothing is
an absolute unsettleing feeling and so
people have to have some kind of hope no
matter what it is, even in politics you see
the way they talk about a vission for the future, which is rediqulous cause nothing ever come's to conclussion i mean it's in every thing we do which i also believe why
we're so unhappy to begin with, as in often people will say, " you just wait till i get to that point in life then all will be great" so that point comes and suddeny it's like that old jazz song of the 50t's

" Is This All There Is? "

tell some one on wall street you just recieved an inuity of 50,000 dolars and that your gonna put it the bank for a rainy day, and they'll just about kiss your you know what to try and convince you your better off investing it and if you say your happy just the way things are people equate you as weak and lazy . . .

I have to believe it's the journey for the
same reason that can be equated to a relationship, look how many people fall in love and then break up after the first orgazam . . . the way peolple cheat on
each other trying to find that feeling or newness one get's in the begining in stead of realizing it's not in the sex but the results of what come's later in the relationship, the fact that 2 people are in still love with each other after years not in lust after 3min.

with out a destination though then i guess one wouldn't be motivated to travel now would they though?

perhaps 2 much motivation and not enough stamina 2 reach the end result of the journey . . .

Answer 5

The wish, the desire, the dream , I have often found to be enough. The work involved in achieving the dreams or the aspiration is often too daunting. But then I am sixty three . So now dreams and aspirations are journeys I take regularly. the Great Wall of China would not be achievable for me but I do it. It is a balance between the ones I can physically achieve and the ones I can dream about. I do not question the purpose . I just enjoy the high.

Answer 6

Happiness should be reached through the journey of good reasoning and understanding and experience. So purpose needs to be discovered or held or acted upon. The journey is one with the destination. One can not have a journey without a series of destinations.

Answer 7

Interesting questions. Yes and yes. But sans the journey, sans the achievement, what? And why should a 'supreme state of happiness be achieved because (it)(he)(she) lacks a purpose?' 'Can ONE feel...because THEY lack...'

Answer 8

pursuit of anything that is to guarantee happiness is a chimera. People are always of the opinion that a 'thing' will provide the emotional state known as happiness. People will be too testy as they approach the final product, eventually dividing their immediate circle into those who are supportive of their project, and everybody else is enemy. Over anticipation, false expectations, and disappointment, then frustration, and the decent into hostility and anger. One should not expect happiness at all. and you won't be disappointed. Happiness is not something that can be worked for, or achieved, rather it is a state of mind, that is , or isn't. Happiness can be overshadowed by years of tough reality, never even glimpsed by those who lives are suffering with drudgery and pain. But if happiness occurs and one can recognize it, happiness can then be achieved by a simple command of will to be happy. and then one is. No props necessary. Don't worry and be happy requires no destructive forces. Happy becomes a bomb sight for the OCD to drive everyone nuts. I'm not happy is a lame excuse to be a rat to everyone. Not expecting to be happy, allows one to be available for other emotions that can be very satisfying, such as being professional. My personal favorite is to be professional. Cold eyed, hard hearted, all pro. Better than happy I think.

Answer 9

Yes it can be, although it is rare it reaches such a level. Happiness is more of a in the moment thing, not just the end product. I personally would feel useless if everyone was very happy all the time, mainly because everyone was happy so what is there to work for?

Answer 10

hey, define happiness for me!
how can a state of supreme happiness have drawbacks?

there is truth in happiness being about the journey, not the destination.
simply put, we are happy when we accept fully what is here and now; dwelling on past and future is the mind seeking problems to perpetuate it's control.

human thinkings?
human doings?

human BEINGS!