Chasing Happiness

What do we strive for? When it comes down to the basics, I believe that we ultimately strive for joy and happiness. It is the driving force which motivates us to overcome hard times and difficult obstacles. It is the illusion that after we overcome these obstacles, we will be happier than we are now. Is this happiness any greater than it was before? Sure the situation is different, but that's just a technicality. The actual emotions that we feel are nothing new. We are chasing a chemical reaction which makes us feel better. Nothing is wrong with this at all, it just seems that generally people try too hard to achieve this happiness. Happiness is free, but the media wants to tell us otherwise. No one is going to dispute the claim that buying something that you really want (IE: a new car, new TV, new computer) is going to make you happy for a short time. But is it really worth all the effort? A couple weeks after having your new car, happiness is back to were it was. The only difference is that now you have a higher threshold for getting back to that same level of happiness. You're going to have to work longer/harder to achieve that same level of joy.

American society wants to make you think that the sure fire way to be happy is the buy new and exciting things. It's cool and all, but is it really worth all the trouble? You work for 300+ hours of YOUR life to buy a new gadget, just to have the happiness it gives you diminish after a short time?

Watching my dog today made me think about all of this. He has no money, no cool gadgets, and no cool sports car. As sad as it is to say, he at times seems to have a higher capacity for happiness than humans. All it takes is a nice sunny day and a few squirrels, and his life is transformed into complete bliss. Why can't I enjoy the simple things in life as much I would like? Why can't we just chase squirrels for fun?