When it comes to my mental life, I am very prone to tripping over random phrases or objects and tumbling down a rabbit hole after them.  For example, the other day I was walking through my kitchen, minding my own business, when I happened to glance down at the comics page of my local paper.  There, I saw this comic:

Normally, I don’t care for Rose is Rose; it’s a little too “sunshine and daisies” for my taste.   But this one got me thinking about that song we all used to sing when we were kids.

“If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.”

For the most part, this is just a silly song that gets kids moving, helps them learn to follow instructions, keeps them out of trouble, etc.  But while we were all clapping our hands, stomping our feet, shouting “hooray!”, and doing whatever else our parents and caretakers could think of, we overlooked something that my slightly more mature brain now finds very interesting.

“If you’re happy – and you know it?”

The more cynical and rational portion of my mind promptly suggested that the phrase “and you know it” was tacked onto the first half of the phrase in order to make the song more singable, because “if you’re happy, clap your hands” sounds pretty dumb when you try to sing it to the original tune.  I do concede this point because there’s probably some truth to it.

Meanwhile, most of the rest of my mind chuckled at the ridiculousness of those lyrics.  After all, who the heck doesn’t know when they’re happy?

But then there was that quiet portion of my mind that didn’t fit into the previous two categories that responded, “maybe you don’t.”

I was taken aback by this and proceeded to think about that revelation for the next week or so and will continue to do so, possibly for the rest of my life.  Because if people can be happy and not know it, the implications of that fact are huge.

The pursuit of happiness is central to the human experience.  Arguably, it is our primary drive.[1]  We don’t like something about our lives and/or imagine that our situation could be made better, which is what motivates us to do and build and create.  Action does not arise from apathy, so the pursuit of happiness can be named as a major cause of much of the development of human society, as well as the arts and sciences.  We live the lives we live because our ancestors sought new ways of furthering their happiness and minimizing their unhappiness.  If you look around the room in which you are (I assume) seated, practically everything you see has the primary function of making people happier than they would be without that thing.  Your chair exists because it’s more comfortable to sit on it than on the floor. Your mp3 player exists so you can enjoy music at any time and any place .  Your computer exists so you can watch videos of Maru the Cat.

Because Maru makes everyone happier.

We spend our lives constantly surrounded by objects and experiences that have the primary function of making the human life happier.  And, yet, we’re miserable.  According to the CDC, in 2013, 1 in 10 American adults were taking antidepressants.[2]  While I am not saying that depression isn’t a serious condition and one that shouldn’t be medically treated, what I am suggesting is that maybe we are, as a culture, terribly unobservant.

This wasn’t the conclusion I had in mind when I began writing this post but, through writing it, I’ve decided that I believe that happiness is not something that can be achieved.  It is, however, something that can be experienced. I am aware that this sounds contradictory, but hear me out.[3]

Humans are programmed to want to make their lives better, to be some level of unsatisfied at all times.  This is a good thing.  Dissatisfaction encourages change and growth, which is the natural state of mankind.[4]  That being said, it is important to remember that our focus, to some degree, does determine our reality.[5]  If we allow ourselves to be entirely focused on our drive to improve our lives, we risk not experiencing our own current happiness.

Sometimes, when you improve something, you’re taking something that is “bad” and making it “good,” like when a family restores a broken-down house.  That isn’t always the case, though.  Often times, when you’re improving something, you’re taking something that is already “good” and making it “better,” like when cooking or re-writing a computer program so that it runs more quickly and efficiently.  The fact that a thing or a situation can be made better does not necessarily mean that its original state was “bad.”

I don’t believe that it is possible for humans to create an object or situation that is so perfect that it cannot be improved, which means that “perfect happiness” is likewise impossible to achieve.  Thankfully, plain, ol’, run-of-the-mill happiness is still pretty great.  We just tend to ignore it while we look for things to improve.

This has been a real eye-opener for me and I’m fairly certain that I’m not going to look at my life in quite the same way after reaching this conclusion.  While there is a great deal that I would change in my life had I the means to do so, I think that I am, overall, fairly happy in my current situation.  And, if I remember correctly, that probably means that I should start clapping my hands more often.

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 [1] Some of you will protest this statement, saying that there are more important motivators, such as seeking food and shelter.  I would respond by pointing out that it’s a lot easier to be happy when you’re not starving or dying from exposure, so pursuing food and shelter is pursuing happiness.

[2]http://www.cms.gov/Medicare-Medicaid-Coordination/Fraud-Prevention/Medicaid-Integrity-Education/Pharmacy-Education-Materials/Downloads/ad-adult-factsheet.pdf

[3] Since you’re reading this instead of listening to it, I suppose this should be “so read me out.”  That phrase, however, has an entirely different meaning than the one I was attempting to convey and I’d rather people didn’t do that.

[4] This subject will definitely get its own blog post in the future, which I why I’m not expanding on it now.

[5] Yes, I did just quote Star Wars: Episode I.  Sue me.  Qui-Gon Jinn is awesome.