For many, the ultimate goal in life is to be happy. However, in reality this is often easier said than done, particularly, when people feel as if they have reached a sense of happiness within their lives, but struggle to understand why this feeling does not last forever. I consider this dilemma to be the result of a failure to appropriately conceptualise what the notion of 'happiness' actually means. Most people perceive happiness as a set goal that is to be achieved, similar to the attainment of a particular grade at school. However, happiness is better understood as a state of being whereby a person's degree of happiness fluctuates according to the stimuli they input and are faced with inside of their lives. When viewed from this perspective it is easier to comprehend why, once happiness is achieved, it does not sustain itself indefinitely, and nor should it.

To base a person's notion of happiness upon their realisation of some personal goal is counterproductive in their pursuit of maintaining a long lasting feeling of happiness throughout the duration of their life. Contrary to what most people believe, it is not the accomplishment of some personal goal that provides someone with a sense of happiness, but instead it is the hard work and effort they have invested into achieving that goal which actually gives them a stronger feeling of happiness, hence why the majority of people are not content with the completion of just one of their personal goals and constantly seek new personal achievements. Of course the issue with this view is that it only becomes apparent with the benefit of hindsight, deceiving some into believing it was the attainment of their personal goal which made them happy.

When happiness is viewed appropriately as an inconstant state it becomes much clearer as to how it can be achieved. Just as an athlete or gym enthusiast works out to maintain their performance and physique, the same discipline is analogous to happiness and its maintenance. The athlete has tools, such as dumbbells, exercise machines, treadmills etc... which act as his/her's inputs in the upkeep of their performance and physique. In the context of maintaining long-lasting (not indefinite) happiness, the tools which act as a person's inputs are much more highly personalised and vary from individual to individual. However, the principal remains the same, a person must utilise these tools, whatever they may be, to input stimulation into their life in order to cultivate a feeling of happiness. Again, the athlete working out in the gym offers a good illustration, where the tools in the gym act as the stimuli to build muscle through constant use, breaking down muscle tissue and allowing it to grow back bigger and stronger. When the same logic is applied to the life of an individual, the same results can be achieved, but instead of muscle development being the ultimate output, a person can experience a more profound feeling of happiness as the culmination of their efforts.

Therefore, it is the personal inputs individuals put into their lives which are crucial in their efforts to obtain a sense of happiness. Whilst an individual has no control over the external stimuli that may affect upon their happiness, they do have a degree of control over the stimuli they personally input into their lives. With such an abstract concept, such as happiness, there is no black and white answer to its realisation, but just as the athlete inputs stimuli to maintain their physique, through working out, a person can input those subjective things into their life, which they derive some sought of happiness from. This can include physical activity, pursing a creative art, volunteering for charitable purposes etc... The more of these inputs they incorporate into their everyday life, the higher the likelihood is of them reaching a state of happiness, and by having multiple inputs a person also has multiple sources in which to derive their happiness from, allowing the feeling to last longer.

Thus, it is important to reiterate that happiness should not be viewed as a set goal to be attained, but instead as a variable state of being to be maintained through constant effort and work, just as an athlete does in the upkeep of their performance and physique. When viewed from this perspective it hopefully becomes clearer as to what happiness actually is and how it can be experienced.