1453 Components of Happiness

Happiness can be expressed by objective equations; for example: Happiness = contentment + self-awareness X (satisfaction + optimism) - anxiety – stress. Some of these concepts can be further broken down into lower-level components; for example: Contentment = peace + tranquility, where peace is the absence of disturbance, and tranquility is calmness & serenity. Further analysis reveals that: satisfaction = accomplishment + control. People usually get satisfaction when a goal is achieved, but it also comes from spite, perversity & masochism; however, its main source comes from being in control of your life. Satisfaction requires self-awareness; something some people don’t have, particularly children. Self-awareness = perception X discernment. Self-awareness is also the most important ingredient for wisdom, where wisdom = self-awareness X depth & breath of knowledge and experience. Anxiety comes from past memories; children have no past; yesterday’s events are transitory. The myth of an amnesic waking up without remembering his past, without a problem in the world, happy as a child, is an attractive one. This is the primary motivation for a person to take thought-suppressing drugs, most notably, alcohol. Continuing with our analysis: anxiety is the opposite of optimism. Optimism = imagination X naivety X ambition, and imagination = intellect X curiosity. Optimism also requires self-awareness because people need to know what the possibilities are, which requires perception and discernment. On the negative side of the mathematical ledger: stress = obligations + misery, where misery = pain + deprivation. Misery is suffering due to physical circumstances; sometimes those are actual ailments, such as hunger, sickness or pain, but despair also causes it. While deprivation = hunger + isolation. Children don’t experience despair because they have nothing to compare their situation to; they may be suffering but they don’t know and so it has no affect on their happiness. Misery can also result from depression but that’s a psychiatric condition caused by a misbalance of neurochemistry.