Happiness and satisfaction comes after success. This how we were brought up. This is what we are taught at school. This is the same idea imposed by the society. All these contribute to a strong environmental factor which serves as the primary reason why we struggle in life. Students study rigorously in able to get a diploma or better yet, become the best in class. Having their credentials to back them up, graduates then seek for a good job -- a high-paying job. After getting a job, he would then do his best and compete with co-workers for a better position which gives a better payout.
Why do we need to go through all these rigorous struggle and tight competition? Well, it is to become successful. Then we would earn a high social status, buy the things that we need, spend for the luxuries in life, or to put it simply, live the elegant life that we dreamed of. With such a wonderful life, we earn a certain level of satisfaction. We are satisfied to finally attain a so-called happy life.
That is the structure of the path that most of us are taking. Actually, it makes a lot of sense why we choose that path. In the first place, we are part of the society and we should move in accordance to the norms imposed by the society. After all, who is to reap all these good things? Nobody but us.
For a moment, let us try to forget about this structure and the cultural norms that we live with and let's try to have a deeper understanding of the 3 terms.
I found 2 interesting definitions of the word "success". Dictionary.com defines it as "the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors" or "the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like". Applying these in the context of life in general, these definitions imply that in able to be successful, we need to magnificently accomplish something (education) or become a wealthy and highly acclaimed individual. We can then say that success really is something external that is judged by the society. We can trigger it but we cannot control or impose it. You will be labeled as successful only if you comply to certain parameters set by the society.
Now let's look at the term "happiness". This is a word that we all understand but find hard to fully explain. It seems that even dictionary definitions are still not that clear. It is usually defined by giving related words such as well-being, contentment, and joy. Why is it a little hard to fully define it? It is because happiness is something internal that we can feel for our selves. "Happiness" along with "love", are some of the words that remains uncontrolled by norms and standards. It can even go beyond logic and reasoning. The society has no direct authority on saying when you are happy and when you are not. Others can only perceive it but only you can identify it.
Though we cannot give an absolute definition for happiness, we can discuss it as a concept. We can classify happiness into two categories -- relative and absolute happiness. Relative happiness is one that we feel in relation to another object, event, or idea. This type of happiness is temporary and subjective. It's existence relies on another thing, usually an object. It also subsides as time goes by. For example, you had a new car. At the very moment you obtained the car, you are completely thrilled and happy. This may be because you attained something that you dreamed of for a long time or because you were one of the first few owners of that specific model. As time passes by, having the car will feel ordinary, and the happiness you initially felt is far different from the happiness you feel whenever you see the car. What's even worse is when the car is stolen, the happiness that you initially felt would turn into grief. If we would look at it closely, we could say that relative happiness is influenced by social structures.
Absolute happiness on the other hand, is a state wherein we feel happy even though social structures and sometimes even logical reasoning tell us otherwise. Now this is something completely non-subjective to external influence. For example, there may be times when you lost on a competition but, still, you are happy. This may be because you did your best or you never expected that you would reach that far and through the process, you developed a new skill or learning. It may also be something that is beyond your reasoning. You just feel happy. That's it. Without you even knowing why you are happy. We could say that this type of happiness is far more powerful than whatever unfortunate events that coincides with it and is therefore supreme to relative happiness. But if we would recall our experiences and compare the number of instances that we felt absolute happiness with that of relative happiness, it would be surprising that we could only recall a few (if any) for absolute happiness and a lot for relative happiness. What does this mean? It is because the society where we live in, puts too much emphasis on relative happiness to the point that we barely notice small instances wherein we felt absolute happiness. There may also be times where we subconsciously disregard this instances because the society does not approve of it and we think that we would just be ridiculed because of it.
Now let's go to our third term, "satisfaction". Dictionary defines it as "a fulfillment of a want or a need" but we could technically narrow it down to "a fulfillment of a want". To analyze it, let's look at one concept in economics which states that "Wants are limitless." If wants are limitless and satisfaction is fulfillment of wants, then we could say that there is no such thing as total satisfaction. The satisfaction that we feel at a given instance is transient or short-lived. When you attained something, you would be satisfied. However, It is part of human nature that whenever you attained something, you would then aspire for something higher. With that, your satisfaction subsides and then struggle to attain something more for you to have that level of satisfaction then you'd aspire for something higher and the cycle repeats again and again.
With all of the things discussed above, let's go back to the social structure we discussed at the early part. As implied earlier, all our endeavors are done because we would like to be happy. So is it true that happiness comes after success? Yes, this is true but only partially. Success leads to relative happiness but not absolute happiness. Can't we eventually be really happy when we become successful? Not absolutely but we can choose to be satisfied with all the relative happiness we experience along the way. That brings in the third term, satisfaction. We could never be satisfied with what we attain. We will feel temporary happiness and satisfaction but we will end up being swallowed in a system of continues cycle of events. We would end up like hamsters tired of running inside a wheel which don't really go anywhere.
The path towards absolute happiness is by following your heart. That way you would enjoy every moment of whatever endeavor you are in.
