“The greatest happiness is to know the source of
unhappiness.” Fyodor Dostoevsky
Is depression synonymous with unhappiness? Naturally, when you are depressed, you become unhappy.
Depression is no more than a personal struggle against unattainable happiness, which is the essence of life and living. Therefore, almost everybody is always in quest of happiness. Sadly, to many, the quest for happiness is forever unreachable—just like a carrot-and-stick in front of a mule; the more pain inflicted on the mule by the stick, the more desire the mule demonstrates to reach out for the forever unattainable carrot in front. In many ways, a depressed individual is just like that mule with self-inflicted pain, which is the depression—the more unhappy that individual feels, the more depressed that individual will become, and the longer that vicious cycle of depression will continue, only plunging that depressed individual deeper into a fathomless black hole of despair and hopelessness. Depression is no more than a mental manifestation of the forever unattainable happiness that an individual strives to seek.
Depression is no more than a personal struggle against unattainable happiness, which is the essence of life and living. Therefore, almost everybody is always in quest of happiness. Sadly, to many, the quest for happiness is forever unreachable—just like a carrot-and-stick in front of a mule; the more pain inflicted on the mule by the stick, the more desire the mule demonstrates to reach out for the forever unattainable carrot in front. In many ways, a depressed individual is just like that mule with self-inflicted pain, which is the depression—the more unhappy that individual feels, the more depressed that individual will become, and the longer that vicious cycle of depression will continue, only plunging that depressed individual deeper into a fathomless black hole of despair and hopelessness. Depression is no more than a mental manifestation of the forever unattainable happiness that an individual strives to seek.
But why is human happiness so elusively and
evasively unreachable and unattainable? The answer is, surprisingly, quite
simple: happiness has to do with one’s perceptions of life experiences, and
thus the thinking mind plays a pivotal role in that respect. That is to say,
human happiness and the human mind are inter-related; without profound human
wisdom, the pursuit of happiness is like wandering in the wilderness without a
compass and a road map. Indeed, true human wisdom holds the key to opening the
door to understanding true human
happiness.
Given
the close connection between depression and happiness, understanding true human
happiness may help a depressed individual overcome his or her depression.
Stephen Lau
Copyright©
by Stephen Lau
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