There are fundamental elements of happiness. At the door of happiness, the porter bounces you off without wealth, health, and friendship. Without a certain level of wealth (the basics of living, such as a secure place, basic clothes, food, clean water, etc.), happiness can’t be built. The level of wealth required to make one person happy changes, but beyond a certain threshold, the returns diminish. Despite health being one of the fundamentals and the absence of it definitely causing unhappiness, its existence still can’t guarantee happiness. There are many healthy and wealthy, but unhappy people in the world.
The last layer of happiness is closely tied to compassion and social relationships. It doesn’t mean that one has to have friends around them; it’s about not feeling alone. Some people happily live in solitude, but they never feel alone.
That suggests there are layers to happiness. Happiness is an inner interpretation of wealth, health, and social relationships. Only understanding that level and finding it can bring happiness.
- Related Note(s):
- For quite some time, I believed having goals and achieving them was key to happiness. I was wrong.
- The media bloats the happiness of others and creates a delusion that everyone is happy but us.
- Source(s): Beyond Religion by Dalai Lama
