Happiness Doesn't Come In A Bottle

Happiness is a common goal towards which all people strive, but for many it remains frustratingly out of reach. No wonder it is so, as sometimes life hits us really hard and it is almost impossible to fight the feelings of sadness and depression that are left behind. But humanity adapted and nowadays we possess evolved mechanisms that produce deep sources of happiness: those for mating bonds, close kinship, deep friendship, and cooperative coalitions.

Many people think of happiness as a destination or acquisition - whether it's marriage, money, or a new home. Sure, sometimes happiness is that, but happiness is also a process and a resource for achieving other goals in life too. When people are happier, they become healthier and more curious, sociable, helpful, creative, and willing to try new things.

No one expects you to be up and running one day after your divorce, or to smile like crazy after you've just lost your job or got bankrupt. It is very important though not to give up, to take one step at a time, to deal with the NOW and HERE, not with your past or future ghosts, go slowly when you feel like it and run if you have the wind at your back.

In the post 25 ways to fight depression I've put together a list of tips that might guide you find the yellow brick road to your happiness. However, they are not a solution in a bottle. Happiness is personal and situational. Whatever makes someone happy might make someone else sad. Whatever lifts your mood now might be extremly annoying later. Too much of a good thing can be bad.

Despite all the attention it gets, happiness is not vital for your survival, it’s merely good. Happiness is not a must, but happiness improves on your life quality and possibly even on it's length. You are not supposed to feel sad because you don’t feel happy all the time. I imagine the moods scale as a building with lots of stories above and below the ground level. Below the ground level dwell the bad moods, anything from feeling uncomfortable to feeling depressed. Above the ground level are the positive emotions from feeling good to feeling happy. Between depression and happiness there is a completely different level that is neither - the ground level - a state of simply being. No significant pains are found here nor great joys either. Therefore, the lack of happiness doesn't mean necesarily depression nor the other way around.

Part of the experience of being human is feeling a great range of emotions. Each and every emotion we are capable of ensured the survival of our species. Embrace your feelings, try to work with them and transform them into something that serves you better.

You might also be interested in Aromatherapy For Depression