Is Happiness the Next Big Business?

Happiness, it seems to be the biggest business happening right now and nothing can come in its way. During times where more is never enough but just escalates, there is a plethora of ways to keep oneself happy: vision boards, affirmations, the power of positive thinking, etc. 

Who doesn’t want to be happy? However, this ‘cult of optimism’, which is in fact a well-intentioned ‘self-help’ movement, cannot even escape the glisten of snake oil. You cannot run around and chase happiness to the ground exclaiming ‘gotcha’. You just cant!

Having the latest mobile or laptop is an indicator of how ‘cool’ you are in the society. Moreover, with the constant disdain in the media, youngsters too are caught in the game. The goalposts of aspiration and living are constantly changing and each and every one of us is guilty of being part of this.

There was a time when happiness had a very simple meaning. It just referred to a state of mind, a sense of feeling good, a mood or feeling of pleasure. However, this emotion comes from different sources. What could be a source of happiness for someone may not necessarily be a source of happiness for another and vice versa.

Happiness has a much broader concept in today's times. As the whole world has already embraced the Internet and social media usage people have become far more conscientious of their looks. People invest far more time in gyms, spending money on gym memberships and fitness clubs and a lot more attention on waking up to their purpose. For them, all of this is being done in ‘the pursuit of happiness’. This is what will then make them happy and similarly this can be applied to various other aspects in our lives.

 Another example is “If only I get this job promotion” will I get a raise in my salary; which will then make me happy. There are multiple things that we can do to make ourselves happy, but lost in time we have to constantly remind ourselves what happiness really is: as Aristotle said: “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.”

Happiness was actually identified as a business in 2012 when the first World Happiness Report was published by the United Nations by the then king of Bhutan. This report clearly outlined the state of world happiness, its causes, and the sources of misery. Now, besides the Happiness Report there are Gross National Happiness (GNH) and courses on happiness!

Is happiness the next big idea? However, at the same time do you think we are putting too much weight on how happy we should be? Is happiness really the solution to all our problems or is happiness just an elusive lie that we keep chasing and telling ourselves?

 Actually when you think of it what does happiness have to do with our day-to-day lives? We continue to live – wake up, go to work, have conversations, text our friends, engage in our vices, use social media, etc. All of this is just LIVING though and when you think of it we don't need happiness.  It is just the idea that has been implanted in our minds from eons and eons ago.

However, what we really need to think back about is what happiness has really turned into in current times. Yes people and the society are ‘richer’ than they used to be, but they are far more disconnected in many humane ways. Ironic, it sounds doesn't it – when we all are far more connected through social media sites and the Internet, right? We have to continue to set our personal goals, achieve them and believe that through this conundrum, we are achieving happiness.