My Idea of Happiness

The Essay below was written as an assignment for a course in Algorithms [Can u belive it ?] but we have a stud prof. so I guess, we cudnt have asked for anything better !

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My Idea of Happiness
Happiness is something that has over the years always been a concept that has more complex than before. After thinking of it again on the fly, and re-writing & erasing it repeatedly, let us define happiness as a state we always aim to acheive.

Defining the concept of happiness as simply doesnt end this essay, rather opens up a plethora of questions, that are more difficult to answer. What the definition does, is that it sets the questions in the right perspective. eg: We seek to define the properties of the state. Thinking of it, we can define the state we seek to acheive, in terms of financial health, job [as in the current engagement] satisfaction, personal & family fulfilment, social acceptance and so on.

After this rather formal and hence boring interpretation, to think on a more intutive level, I must say that I get happiness from the freedom of doing what I want to do / pursue at any point of time (which would fall under the heading of job satisfaction among those above).
But clearly the ideas of happiness have changed radically along with growing up. As a child, the ideas of happiness were really simple. A 'Lego' set entertained me for weeks at end. Watching the progress of India in an arbitary sporting competition kept me engaged for days. Over the years, this concept has been compounded (& I would say, clouded as well) with what the society and the people around oneself, define the properties of happiness state as well.

With these imbibed inputs from the society as well as the inherent concepts, have enabled me to sketch a rough picture of the state i wish to acheive. Hence in the future, I think satisfaction in terms of career and family will have top priority. I think financial health [subject to a certain threshold] is irrelevant. As long as I can provide for the basic needs of all those dependant on me, I will be decently satisfied. Though it would be grossly errorprone, I think to quantify it, an inflation-corrected income equivalent of about Rs. 3 lakhs p.a. should suffice. Hence once this is assured, I think family and career have a unmatched importance.
I strongly think, that a 45 yr. old man who has considerable financial clout, who meets his 16 yr. old child for less than 20 hrs. / week, which is spent in minimising friction, simply cannot be happy. Choices between family and career could be made on each case basis.

& once I am done, projecting a rosy future, as I sit and try and answer the most crucial question of them all:: What makes me happy in the present?
I am firmly of the opinion that happiness though defined (in a very convulated manner) to be a state, it is rather travelling a journey. If it was a state, a person wudnt try and change it. This is clearly not what happens. What a man is 'happy' for is that, he has progressed along the path towards the 'Happy' State ! So I think it isnt wise to be happy for what one is, but rather for being more of what he thinks he hopes to become.

As I try and wind this essay up, and read through it again, I realise that the above might not be the most coherent of thoughts and thought process, but since I am unsure of my idea of Happiness, I can hardly complain!
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