The Meaning of Happiness and Anger

Happiness and anger are two of the most basic human emotions that we portray quite frequently. But many of us never seem to be able to grasp the full understanding of what it means to be happy and why we get angry.

First, let's take a look at happiness. What does it mean? Why do we feel happy? What purpose does it serve?

Emotions, themselves, are quite a complicated thing. But that's not what we're here to discuss. This blog (or I guess discussion board) is intended to understand and explore various topics; not go into the finer details of things. We can leave those aside for textbooks.

Moving on...

Happiness seems to serve as a way for us to express our feelings of completeness, satisfaction, worry-free, stress-free, etc. It seems to be the only end result of our emotional functions that is expressed through muscle contractions on our face (i.e. a smile) or through laughter.

But why do we do it? I mean are we really happy when we say we are, or is it more of being satisfied for the moment? In many cases, I would think that it's a temporary thing since "normal" people are not happy-go-lucky 24-7. Life has its ups and downs and it varies day by day.

Next...

Anger. Why do people get angry? I mean if you think about it, what happens when you get angry? You lose focus of what you were trying to do, you might (in a fit) break or slam things, you might hurt yourself in your anger fit, and then soon after you feel silly about it or you feel sorry that you became angry.

So if we've all been angry at least once in our lives, why do we still get angry? Isn't it somewhat strange? As mentioned, we do go through ups and downs every day, but why do virtually every one of us get to the point where it bothers us and we need to physically let it out?

Let's think about these 2 things for a moment.

What will it take for someone to be completely happy, and what will it take for someone to rid themselves of all feelings of anger? Some claim that things like yoga exercises will do it. Other people claim that becoming more religious or something along those lines may do it.

It might do it for some people, but it might actually be just another layer to cover the fact that we are upset or not as happy as we want to; a societal mask if you will.

Being social animals, we often are concerned with how others will view ourselves. Some also over-obsess about this and get feelings of inadequacy in the face of others. It's normal to have some level of concern as we are social beings, but a few individuals take it to the extremes.

Going back on track...

Pure happiness seems to be an ideal for many of us. We try so many things in our lives to "correct" the way we think, do certain routines and thought patterns when we get angry, etc.

All of these are simply distractions which often get distracted and make us angry all over again. There has to be some level of understanding that the individual is capable and incapable of certain things, and certain things in life has to be the way that they are.

For example, trying to change habits for a person proves to be quite difficult in most cases. A habit is almost like a routine of some sort. Being social animals, we all have some level of routine-like behavior that we do each day. When the routine is disrupted or has the potential to  be disrupted, we get uncomfortable, and that feeling of being uncomfortable leads to dissatisfaction which in turn results in anger.

People tend to get very defensive about themselves and exert attention towards other people or other things; another distraction to our already-distracted lives.

You may be wondering how can you achieve happiness or what the meaning of happiness is. That is up to the individual to decide since happiness is more relevant to the individual, and the encounters & experiences such individual has.

However, understanding happiness is more along the lines of an ideal; a goal if you will. Being social animals, we often function along the lines of a goal or a "prize". The "prize" may be quitting cigarette smoking, getting better grades at school, getting a job, buying a certain item, earning enough money to do something, etc.

This "prize" is an end goal that we have in mind, of which we assume will make us feel satisfied with ourselves. It may involve the assistance of others, but the end result is How and what do I need to do to ________? Other people may be involved but we're often out for the sake of ourselves first and then others.

With the anger issue, anger may as well be an expression of the self displaying distaste at delaying or preventing ourselves from reaching the "prize". This distaste is often believed to be a direct result from another, when sometimes it could be the self that is preventing the self from obtaining such "prize".

So the next time you're about to do anything, really think about (at least for a moment) the ideas that were discussed here. It is likely that it will be relevant to the situation you are in.