Each of us has many wants or desires; nice clothes, good education, good job, friends, family and so on. Yet, at the root of all these individual desires is one that is far more fundamental. This most basic desire appears to be common among all people regardless of where they live, their age, education, social standing, culture or religion. This is the desire for happiness. We desire other things because we think they will contribute to our happiness or will make us happy. But what is happiness? To make sure we understand what we mean by happiness, let’s use the following American Heritage Dictionary definition:
Enjoying, showing, or marked by pleasure, satisfaction, or joy.
When we speak of happiness, we typically are not referring to brief periods or moments of happiness but one that is long term and continuous. Everyone wants to live “happily ever after.” However, in the world in which we live, this idyllic life is rarely, if ever, experienced. Illness, injury, misfortune, poverty, abuse, disrespect, teasing and many other events mar or interrupt our happiness. Consequently, we spend our lives with an insatiable hunger for happiness that will last forever.
In an attempt to satisfy this hunger we do many things and pursue many activities. What we choose varies not only from person to person but for each person from situation to situation. Some people think power, fame, money or some combination of these and their subsets (such as expensive clothes, jewelry, furnishings and property) will make them happy. For others pleasure and popularity are the means they choose as means to happiness. Still others seek happiness in other things or activities. But rarely, if ever, does the happiness we gain last forever or even for a lifetime.
Often, once we have the “thing” we believe will make us happy, we find that it does not. For example, those who have sought wealth as a means to happiness often appear to be the most unhappy people in the world. The same appears to be true of those who want power in order to be happy. The happiness we achieve from other means often is short-lived. Our fame is frequently fleeting. We grow bored with our possessions as the newness wears off. Our popularity waxes and wanes over time and so on.
Why then do we have this constant drive to be permanently happy if it is so utterly unachievable? And why is this drive so pervasive? In the middle of the twentieth century psychologist Abraham Maslow developed a theory that people’s actions are motivated or prompted by a hierarchy of needs. The most basic of these needs are survival; food, water, shelter and so forth. The next most important needs are those for security and safety followed by belonging needs (love and family for example). The topmost level are what Maslow calls self-actualization needs. These are needs for self-fulfillment or to reach one’s greatest potential. At first glance, Maslow’s hierarchy suggests that each of the needs categories are fairly discreet and that most or all of the needs of a lower category have to be fulfilled before satisfaction of the next higher level of needs is activated. In reality, while the needs of a given category may be emphasized or take priority, satisfying the needs of other, even higher categories may often be pursued. Thus, the categories may be more or less intertwined with another. Maslow’s theory would seem to suggest that the more needs that are met, the happier a person will be. Yet, it appears that even when the needs of all the categories from survival through self-actualization are satisfied and these people seem to be as happy as they can be, many still want more, something greater as if the most important thing is still missing, still beyond reach. I would put this “need” at the top of Maslow’s hierarchy above self-actualization needs. Let’s call this need “completion.”
It is as though Maslow’s list of needs and the necessity for their satisfaction are hardwired in us. Some say this is instinctual and Maslow himself calls them “instinctoids.” Those who hold this view believe the instinctual response to a perceived need has developed over time through evolution. Yet, they’ve not explained how the first single celled creatures acquired the drive to satisfy even the most fundamental needs such as the need for food. Nor have they adequately explained the desire for happiness that goes far beyond the satisfaction of all of our needs. While biology, including genetics, play a part in striving to satisfy our needs, their satisfaction might produce contentment but not the desire we all seem to share for an endless state of happiness that is beyond our wildest dreams. This desire is so strong that, even though no one has ever achieved it during his or her lifetime, each of us continues to pursue the dream.
Enjoying, showing, or marked by pleasure, satisfaction, or joy.
When we speak of happiness, we typically are not referring to brief periods or moments of happiness but one that is long term and continuous. Everyone wants to live “happily ever after.” However, in the world in which we live, this idyllic life is rarely, if ever, experienced. Illness, injury, misfortune, poverty, abuse, disrespect, teasing and many other events mar or interrupt our happiness. Consequently, we spend our lives with an insatiable hunger for happiness that will last forever.
In an attempt to satisfy this hunger we do many things and pursue many activities. What we choose varies not only from person to person but for each person from situation to situation. Some people think power, fame, money or some combination of these and their subsets (such as expensive clothes, jewelry, furnishings and property) will make them happy. For others pleasure and popularity are the means they choose as means to happiness. Still others seek happiness in other things or activities. But rarely, if ever, does the happiness we gain last forever or even for a lifetime.
Often, once we have the “thing” we believe will make us happy, we find that it does not. For example, those who have sought wealth as a means to happiness often appear to be the most unhappy people in the world. The same appears to be true of those who want power in order to be happy. The happiness we achieve from other means often is short-lived. Our fame is frequently fleeting. We grow bored with our possessions as the newness wears off. Our popularity waxes and wanes over time and so on.
Why then do we have this constant drive to be permanently happy if it is so utterly unachievable? And why is this drive so pervasive? In the middle of the twentieth century psychologist Abraham Maslow developed a theory that people’s actions are motivated or prompted by a hierarchy of needs. The most basic of these needs are survival; food, water, shelter and so forth. The next most important needs are those for security and safety followed by belonging needs (love and family for example). The topmost level are what Maslow calls self-actualization needs. These are needs for self-fulfillment or to reach one’s greatest potential. At first glance, Maslow’s hierarchy suggests that each of the needs categories are fairly discreet and that most or all of the needs of a lower category have to be fulfilled before satisfaction of the next higher level of needs is activated. In reality, while the needs of a given category may be emphasized or take priority, satisfying the needs of other, even higher categories may often be pursued. Thus, the categories may be more or less intertwined with another. Maslow’s theory would seem to suggest that the more needs that are met, the happier a person will be. Yet, it appears that even when the needs of all the categories from survival through self-actualization are satisfied and these people seem to be as happy as they can be, many still want more, something greater as if the most important thing is still missing, still beyond reach. I would put this “need” at the top of Maslow’s hierarchy above self-actualization needs. Let’s call this need “completion.”
It is as though Maslow’s list of needs and the necessity for their satisfaction are hardwired in us. Some say this is instinctual and Maslow himself calls them “instinctoids.” Those who hold this view believe the instinctual response to a perceived need has developed over time through evolution. Yet, they’ve not explained how the first single celled creatures acquired the drive to satisfy even the most fundamental needs such as the need for food. Nor have they adequately explained the desire for happiness that goes far beyond the satisfaction of all of our needs. While biology, including genetics, play a part in striving to satisfy our needs, their satisfaction might produce contentment but not the desire we all seem to share for an endless state of happiness that is beyond our wildest dreams. This desire is so strong that, even though no one has ever achieved it during his or her lifetime, each of us continues to pursue the dream.
Our pursuit of happiness takes many forms including fame, fortune, possessions, pleasure, power and even selfish, irresponsible, illicit and immoral activities. Our efforts to achieve happiness have gravitated increasingly toward worldly things rather than seeking that which is the only true source and goal of real, permanent happiness. Although biology, genetics, and environment may have a role in our desire for happiness, it is nevertheless true that the happiness for which we were created is not caused by or rooted in these factors. Rather, they were designed to orient us toward the source of perfect and endless joy. That source is also the end we seek. And there is only one general means of achieving that end.
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