Insouciant

Everywhere you turn, every app you use is selling you instant happiness, tips on how to get happy and fast; because in the western world nothing is good unless it's fast. They show you before and after pictures of people who have found happiness, they show you the happiest man, according to scientists, the happiest places to be, how lots and lots of money still won't make you happy, all while publishing the article on a website that is 50% content and 50% advertising. Now I am not here to condemn these because with a title like 5 things to do to become happier, I would be a fool not to fall for the clickbait. However I do have a few qualms with some of the advice that they like to freely dish out.  

 I think happiness is something you have to work for it's not something you are entitled to, it should be a never quest that doesn't just end once you find happiness, you have to keep the happy juices flowing. A lot of people can't just do five things to achieve life long happiness, it just not feasible for a lot of people, because it sounds silly and a bit too simplistic; maybe that's where the secret lays.  But surely not for long luxurious jovial lives.

For at the moment, instant on the spot happiness I think articles or life hacks like this are awesome, However a lot of them don't talk about the importance of a clean closet with you in or out said closet. Because honey all the skeletons you have shoved in there will one day, want it or not or simply fall out, if you simply can't clean them up you need to disguise them, that might make anything and everything worse though but anything is better than just letting them residue in the proverbial closet in your head. Skeletons will kill your vibe not bitches.

With a lot of these articles, there comes a hidden pressure to succeed, because the things that you are advised to do are so simple even an untrained chimp can do them, and learn how to be successfully happy; well still it's only going to last so long. and for the most part they can be quite good for the x amount of hours you are at work; this doesn't apply if your work place resembles a gingerbread house and your name is Hansel and you know a cunt named Gretel and you shit rainbows. And for that reason (the longevity not the shitting of rainbows) is why happiness has to be treated like a Never Ending Quest. And like all good quests its never easy to get to the finish line, there are a number of sometimes reoccurring obstacles that will without doubt stand in your way.
Forgiveness is one of the things that I feel like they never really delve into and for me I think that forgiveness could easily be at the core of happiness, I don't mean the fake smile forgiveness that we give to others, but the genuine self forgiveness. We need to be able to truly forgive ourselves before we start to forgive others. Sometimes we set ourselves tasks and when we don't do the set tasks at a standard that satisfies us we tend to beat ourselves up about it. Metaphorically I hope. If you can't go to bed pissed off with your partner, why is it so acceptable to go bed pissed off at yourself?. BUT DON'T be a Mug mate forgiveness shouldn't always cause amnesia bro. 

Going after what you want. If there is anything 2015 taught me its that, life is too short to not go after what you want. Sometimes we don't go after things we want because well for so many reasons listing them could become a book, but honestly the perfect time will never come. Ever. Throw (well planned) caution to the wind and just do it. I am not saying walk out of your job knowing very well you haven't secured a new one, pre plan it, save search and succeed. 

Small things sometimes have a bigger impact than the bigger things, for some people the key to happiness is picking up a hobby, something they can indulge in regularly or when they can be asked, for some it is indulging in hedonist activities of their choice and for some its just sparking up. This small thing is something you can do to help you balance out the fact that you are not shitting rainbows at your work place, where you spend more time than should probably be allowed or legal but legality doesn't always pay bills. 

Finding a peace of mind, I think it's so easy to get caught up in a thousand things, all at once but keeping a peace of mind frees a piece of your mind. And that in turn leaves more brain capacity to be happy or seek out happiness. 

So back to the point about these articles, especially the ones that really try to tell you that money does not play a factor in happiness, first that's some bullshit because the fact that you simply posted this a revenue producing, advert selling website means you are using the article as click bait and what does click bait generate? Revenue and what does that mean, money in someone's pocket does it not?

Without money you simply can't go after what you want, because you are busy chasing after what you need; a paying job. We all know a graduate that works a minimum wage job that they loathe, not because this is what they had in mind while applying for UCAS, but simply because sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. They can't sit at home unemployed as they await the big graduate job, that would be silly. 

Without money you won't or rather can't get the 'small' things. Can your budget stretch to buy you the bits and bobs you need for your hobby, does you 40 hour job and 5 hour over time you do allow you spare time in which to have a hobby?. After all you are saving for *something* and every penny that isn't spent on bills is going into that pot. 

Importantly without money you won't get a peace of mind, because that is the last thing on your mind. A piece of your mind is worrying about finding the graduate job because your current job isn't your final form and you know it, another piece is on the fact that so much of your pay check is going on bills, and so on and so forth I hope you get the idea with where I am going with this. 

See how easily you can become unhappy? All the money counters alone can easily make you go from 69 year old Tibetan man to Katie Hopkins, that bitch never smiles. And honestly I want to say that all these counters will always be there, you will always have money issues, you will always have some sort of obstacle. But you always have to have a greater reason to be happy, you have to do whatever you can. You have to learn how to maximise with what you have currently, that's easier said than done but apparently something worth having won't be easy or some idealistic shit like that.

-Mal 

'5k to couch'

p.s But then at the same time, happiness is very conformist, especially when you seek the happiness that people have, seek your own kind of happiness. And happiness stifles creative, however creativity simply breeds happiness. Finally I think its important to embrace all the times you aren't happy, these are the times you will experience vast personal growth. But if your lack of happiness comes at a cost of feeling empty and low and unable to enjoy anything, please see your doctor depression is real and real help can be and is at hand once you seek it.