Happiness

The Dalai Lama says that the ultimate goal for all people around the world is to be happy. As a member of the human race knowing such a thing enables you to have compassion for others and to know that when one suffers this is not his ultimate goal; rather it is that lack of happiness which causes suffering. I take no issue with this and fully respect and agree with what he says. But I wonder, is the nature of man actually happy? 

When we look at the history of man through time, we can trace their migration routes out of Africa and across the globe. Actually, there are two DNA strands that originated in Africa, and one of them never left. Essentially there is a unique DNA strand that stayed in Africa and is unique to all people with African descent. All other people in the world, whether Asian, Latino, etc, share one common DNA strand whose origins go thousands of years back. I read about this in a National Geographic article about a year ago and found this to be very interesting. If we look at the history of man and consider the motive for moving, primarily food and shelter, was the desire to seek happiness the primary motive, i.e., if man were happy by nature, then would he have populated the entire earth as he has? 

If we consider the Vikings who were the great pillagers of the earth for a good thousand years, you might be able to surmise that it was their ultimate unhappiness with their environment that compelled them to build their mighty ship and set sea. After all, Scandinavia is not exactly known for its tropical weather and abundant food. I think they were miserable and had to find a better place to live, and in their anger towards their conditions, it motivated them to divide and conquer, which is why there are blue eyes all over the northern hemisphere. In all cases where men sought new lands, fought for freedom, I believe that it was their ultimate UNhappiness which led us to succeed. In accordance with the Dalai Lama, the desire to find happiness is what motivates us to keep growing as a human race. 

This leads me to this great misconception that not to be happy means that there is something VERY wrong with us. If someone is having a hard time at work and that person isn't happy, what's the first reaction most of us have? Fix him. Make him feel happy. Some will go and get a drink while others will take medicine or go on a run, which I think is a fine idea. But to say that simply having a bad day or being unhappy for a little while is a bad thing, well, I don't think that's necessarily good. From what I can see, it's okay to be unhappy every once in a while, especially when something bad has happened. In our ultimate desire to seek happiness, it's okay to try and feel better, but at the same time it's also okay to be unhappy every once in a while. 

I am writing about this because I was thinking about what motivates my husband and many others to continue to grow, and from what I can tell, it is usually a feeling of unhappiness and the desire to seek happiness which makes us grow. When we actually feel totally happy, that's when we become content and sometimes complacent. And that, too, is okay. But I don't think that unhappiness is necessarily a bad thing. A little bit of happiness, mixed with good doses of happiness, can make for a balanced life. It's just when there's too much of one thing that things can get a little whacked.