Seriously Calm

Happiness is a Choice

You’re born, you have a set of sensory experiences, and then you die. How you choose to interpret those experiences is up to you, and different people interpret them in different ways -- Naval Ravikant

Having watching this inspiring video, I am more convinced that happiness is a choice.

Our brain grants us the ability to process raw experience at our liberty. We can, functionally and inaccurately speaking, divide the brain into three parts. Apart from the primal part that governs our survival function - breathing, drinking and swallowing etc, the other two parts are the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex. The limbic system generates primitive behavioural and emotional responses, direct and unbridled. Conversely, the prefrontal cortex intelligently regulates our thoughts, actions and emotions through extensive connections with other brain regions. In essence, we possess an innate mechanism to channel our sensory experiences and raw emotions to the part of prefrontal cortex; we can be mindful of our emotions and thoughts, and react in a composed and controlled manner.

Cognitively, we can learn to choose happiness . The crux is lies in employing reason, a uniquely human attribute, to govern our thoughts and actions, and to contemplate the foundations of happiness: Enjoyment, satisfaction and purpose. While enjoyment and sastisfaction hold a more universial appeal for modern individual, the purpose - why am I alive and what would I be willing to die for, is profoundly personal and indivual. Each of us need to find our unique answers to this question, even though various philosphies have provided their model responses. Stoicism, for instance, asserts that it's a man's nature to contribute to the human nature. From Meditations:

You don't need much to live happily. And just because you've abandoned your hopes of becoming a great thinker or scientist, don't give up on attaining freedom, achieving humility, serving others, obeying God.
Ultimately, it comes down to how we control our perceptions and seek happiness from within.

We can also choose Happiness by proactively attending to our routines. Scott Adams presents a happiness formula in his best-selling book, "How to Fail at Almost Everything". The formula comprises five simple elements:

By simply consuming the right food (both in terms of type and portion),regularly moving our bodies and also allowing ourselves sufficient rest - which most of us can manage to ahiceve - we should be happy enough (although some might argue that these measures will only lower our unhappiness but not increase our happiness). If the notion of controlling our minds feels elusive, refining our physical well-being should be a more accessible path towards happiness.

Some might object the idea of one being able to choose happiness - "Humans are fortune's fool" - they say. However, a challenging life shall not diminish one's capacity to embrace happiness. Victor Frankl, a survivor of a German concentration Camp, who authored the reknowned book "Man's Search for Meaning", poists that "suffering, when put into clear perspective, becomes not suffering." In fact, he contends that happiness can emerge from overcoming suffering, because it is up to individuals, in face of diverse hardships, to seek their unique life purposes and discover meaning. In other words, life resembles a quest for meaning, and it is within this pursuit that happiness is uncovered.

Happiness is indeed a choice. It emanates from within and we possess the ability to transform sorrow, pain, and unhappiness, replacing them with a mindset predisposed to happiness and an inclination to perceive the world optimistically. Undeniably, this endeavor is not devoid of challenges, yet the choice remains unequivocally ours to make.