Want and Happiness

What does it mean to be happy? It seems that this is another one of those questions that no one knows the answer to, yet I am determined to find it. So what is happiness? What is it that makes us feel that certain feeling that none of us can really put our finger on.

Of course there’s the simple, boring response that any scientist can tell you. Happiness is an experience that we know happens when there are certain levels of different chemicals in our brains. These chemicals trigger a response somewhere in our nervous system, and we feel what we call “happy.” However, that still doesn’t answer us. Even if there’s no doubt that that’s what happens, that still doesn’t tell us why those chemicals are released or those signals are sent. There’s no cause. That only tells us what happens, but that’s still not enough.

To find why we are happy and what that really means, we have to take a look at what makes us feel this emotion. To me, it would appear that it could be anything. It could be a certain activity you enjoy, or a memory of some event in your life, or maybe even a specific person can be all the difference in your life. Anything can make you feel happiness. So it still doesn’t tell us why. Knowing what makes us happy puts us at least a little bit closer to knowing why, and what happiness really means.

What does happiness feel like? “Happy” is just a word. It doesn’t mean anything more than a random jumble of letters that I decide makes up a word. Happiness is a rush. It is also a slow burn. It comes on all at once but it also builds up, like a plotline with intense suspense. Everything builds to one point. You might not see the steps that are slowly working together to make you happy, but they’re definitely there. Happiness is exhilarating and wonderful and unlike anything else, which is what makes it so hard to describe or understand. When you feel happy, that’s all there is. There’s no stress or anxiety. There’s no worry. There’s no concern for something