Human beings like to analyze things; one might even say it is part of human nature. However, at what point does analysis result in negative consequences? In the case of happiness, analysis starts to become a problem when it starts to prevent happiness. Over analyzing happiness can result in frustration and misery, because happiness is conditional and subjective. What makes one person happy differs from individual to individual. Also, what makes one happy at the time might not make one happy later on. For instance, if someone is happy one day in English class, it does not mean that he will necessarily be happy in English class tomorrow. Unfortunately, there is no set equation for happiness.
Another problem with analyzing happiness is that the focus is on the past. Instead of living in the moment, all one's attention is honed in on happiness achieved prior to the moment. When this occurs, one often idealizes and fantasizes the prior memories of happiness, making the memories better than what they truly are. If an individual tries to recreate these memories, disappointment ensues because reality cannot live up to the fantasy created in one's own head.
Some say a better alternative to analyzing happiness is to look into the causes of unhappiness. This way, one can locate the sources of unhappiness and remove them. The only problem with this is that many individuals latch onto the unhappy memories and cannot stop themselves from spiraling into a depression. Instead of identifying the sources of unhappiness and trying to change them, they instead focus just on their unhappiness. Initiating change is the key factor in balancing the want for happiness and actually achieving happiness. Obviously, change happens overtime so problems arise when one's actions do not seem to be producing positive results fast enough. So the question comes down to is there a way to analyze one's happiness while remaining happy in the moment?
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