Is Happiness the Goal?

There’s a point in everybody’s life where you ask yourself “What am I doing? Why am I here?”, and it is a question that has been pondered since the beginning of the human timeline. Because of this, there are millions of theories, but all can be compressed into one question: “Is happiness the goal”? In short, yes.

Of course this varies on what you define as happiness, and how you value ambition. For some, ambition drives them like a drug to complete their goals with the hope of some sort of approval, money or even just the feeling of accomplishment. Like a drug, being very ambitious can distract you from the world around you and the happiness you can make for yourself. Though “we have been taught our whole lives that it is about the journey, not the destination, we are getting further and further from it” (Savage), and in the limelight the destination or completed goal becomes the only way we think we can make ourselves happy.
Another factor that shapes personal happiness for many are the expectations family, friends, and society put on us. “Our society worships talent, and many people assume that possessing superior intelligence or ability - along with confidence in that ability - is a recipe for success” (Dweck). This idea is introduced to us from the moment we flop out of our mothers’ wombs. But then what is success? If you tie success together with happiness, then you may never be fully content until you reach these goals. However, if you make happiness it’s own ‘entity’ and try to practice contentment, you can scratch the expectations tacked onto you and find your own happiness in the smaller things.
Many people contemplate this idea of being content, but many do not follow through because they have a difficult time finding somewhere between contentment and forwarding their life, as well as surviving financially. It is often easier to do ‘what you are told’, and ‘what you have to do’ whilst depressed to keep living, rather than taking a risk at what will complete your happiness. Many times in your life you will have to take a risk and evaluate the outcomes to discover your ideal lifestyle. An interesting look at how people deal with this idea is seen everyday when illegal immigrants migrate hundreds of miles just to have better work opportunities in the United States. “These are normal people that just want to feed their families” (Nazario), as many families living in Mexico are very impoverished and struggle to make ends meet every day. While their family back at home may be living more comfortably, “The effect of immigration has been family disintegration. People are leaving behind the most important value: family unity” (Nazario), with hopes that money will fill that emotional hole, but it typically does not.
“Is Happiness the Goal?”. Yes, so “Don't forget to stop and smell the roses” (Hagen).