When I was still in my childhood year, happiness seems to be an easy enough concept to grasp.

Playtime with your mates, ice cream from the ice cream van, or a stroll in the park easily brings a
smile onto my face. As teenagers, happiness becomes more nuanced, but still in my reach. On some
days we might be overwhelmed by a pang of existential crisis and uncertainty over my future, but
it’s nothing that a few nights of deep talks with your friends (coupled with a drink or two) can’t
solve. In general, when viewed in retrospect, our teenage years are characterised by mostly happy
memories, of friendships, self-exploration, and naïve optimism.

As I further develop into my young adulthood, however, happiness seems much harder to come by.
It is still very much attainable through little moments in life – ice cream straight from the ice cream
van with its familiar jingle from the Blue Danube would still bring back sweet memories from youth
and thus a smile on my face – but the reality, responsibilities and mundaneness of life quickly
dampens the fleeting momentary joy. The nine-to-five job five days a week, monthly rent and utility
bills, endless responsibilities from committed relationships quickly comes to mind, sending the
happy feeling to the back of the mind.

Maybe a promotion at work for better prestige and pay, marriage and a more stable relationship,
yearly vacations to an exotic land for relaxation would give rise to happier life? Probably not. The
promotion at work comes with more responsibilities and overtime work. Married couples still argue
over the same trivial subjects. Vacations and travelling could bring some temporary break and
genuine happiness, but when its over, the fleeting sensation of responsibility and dissatisfaction
creeps back into your life.

Even at a ripe old age, healthy and retired from work, sitting on a swinging armchair overlooking the
garden of your modest suburban garden, the happiness still isn’t permanent. At times, you might
worry over your children and grandchildren’s future, ponder over the state of politics and security in
the world, etcetera.

Is that it? Is happiness always a fleeting sensation and we might never be happy all the time? The
answer to this question might be a disappointing “yes”.

Humans are not evolved to be “happy always”. Our mind and emotions, happiness and joy inclusive,
have evolved for survival and procreation. Those who are constantly happy and satisfied with their
current state of being might never strive for a better life or reflect on ways to improve. They might
be happy with living out in the wilderness of Africa and never set foot out to explore all the seven
continents of the world. They might settle with sticks and stones and never develop the technology
of the bronze ages. They might be satisfied with the life of being cave-dwelling hunter-gatherers and
bever develop agriculture and houses. Our ancestors, however, are not from such humans. They
were the ones who were never fully satisfied, and went on explorations to quench the desire for
more, resulting in the technological improvements we see in modern humans.

Not only in prehistoric times could we see how unhappiness result in advancements, it could also be
seen throughout recorded history. One day humans were dissatisfied with what their colonies had
and so they invented trade. Another day Emperor Cesar was unhappy with his empire – and thus he
went on a conquest and expanded his territory thought the Mediterranean. Another time the Writ
brothers were unhappy with not being able to take flight to the sky, and thus they invented the
airplane. In the modern time, humans are unhappy with the destruction they have made to the
earth through their development and industrialisation, and so are striving to come together to
combat the environmental and climate crisis.
Thanks to ancestors before us who never settled and were never always happy with what they had,
we too are born with a mind that could never be always happy. We see the problems in our life,
whether it be personal, societal, or global, and are unhappy with how things are. This in turns
motivates us to come together, to create solutions to problems we see, and to improve.

Happiness could not be with us at throughout our live, but maybe this is for the best. It motivates us
to improve, and, its briefness teaches us to treasure the moments we do have. Ice creams, strolls in
the parks, nature, lunchtime bonds, hugs, novel experiences - when the time comes when we
encounter the moments of happiness, treasure it. Life is alright, not bad at least, but still room is
available for improvement - and that is enough.
When I was still in my childhood year, happiness seems to be an easy enough concept to grasp.
Playtime with your mates, ice cream from the ice cream van, or a stroll in the park easily brings a
smile onto my face. As teenagers, happiness becomes more nuanced, but still within my reach. On
some days we might be overwhelmed by a pang of existential crisis and uncertainty over my future,
but it’s nothing that a few nights of deep talks with your friends (coupled with a drink or two) can’t
solve. In general, when viewed in retrospect, our teenage years are characterised by mostly happy
memories, friendships, self-exploration, and naïve optimism.

As I further develop into my young adulthood, however, happiness seems much harder to come by.
It is still very much attainable through little moments in life – ice cream straight from the ice cream
van with its familiar jingle from the Blue Danube would still bring back sweet memories from youth
and thus a smile on my face – but the reality, responsibilities and mundaneness of life quickly
dampen the fleeting momentary joy. The nine-to-five job five days a week, monthly rent and utility
bills, and endless responsibilities from committed relationships quickly come to mind, sending the
happy feeling to the back of the mind.

Maybe a promotion at work for better prestige and pay, marriage and a more stable relationship,
and yearly vacations to an exotic land for relaxation would give rise to a happier life? Probably not.
The promotion at work comes with more responsibilities and overtime work. Married couples still
argue over the same trivial subjects. Vacations and travelling could bring some temporary break and
genuine happiness, but when it's over, the fleeting sensation of responsibility and dissatisfaction
creeps back into your life.

Even at a ripe old age, healthy and retired from work, sitting on a swinging armchair overlooking the
garden of your modest suburban garden, the happiness still isn’t permanent. At times, you might
worry over your children and grandchildren’s future, ponder over the state of politics and security in
the world, etcetera.

Is that it? Is happiness always a fleeting sensation and we might never be happy all the time? The
answer to this question might be a disappointing “yes”.

Humans are not evolved to be “always happy ”. Our minds and emotions, happiness and joy
inclusive, have evolved for survival and procreation. Those who are constantly happy and satisfied
with their current state of being might never strive for a better life or reflect on ways to improve.
They might be happy with living out in the wilderness of Africa and never set foot out to explore all
the seven continents of the world. They might settle with sticks and stones and never develop the
technology of the bronze ages. They might be satisfied with the life of being cave-dwelling hunter-
gatherers and bever develop agriculture and houses. Our ancestors, however, are not from such
humans. They were the ones who were never fully satisfied and went on explorations to quench the
desire for more, resulting in the technological improvements we see in modern humans.

Not only in prehistoric times could we see how unhappiness result in advancements, but it could
also be seen throughout recorded history. One day humans were dissatisfied with what their
colonies had and so they invented trade. On another day Emperor Cesar was unhappy with his
empire – and thus he went on conquest and expanded his territory through the Mediterranean.
Another time the Wright brothers were unhappy with not being able to take flight to the sky, and
thus they invented the aeroplane. In modern times, humans are unhappy with the destruction they
have made to the earth through their development and industrialisation, and so are striving to come
together to combat the environmental and climate crisis.
Thanks to ancestors before us who never settled and were never always happy with what they had,
we too are born with a mind that could never be always happy. We see the problems in our life,
whether they be personal, societal, or global, and are unhappy with how things are. This in turn
motivates us to come together, to create solutions to problems we see, and to improve.

Happiness could not be with us throughout our lives, but maybe this is for the best. It motivates us
to improve, and, its briefness teaches us to treasure the moments we do have. Ice creams, strolls in
the parks, nature, lunchtime bonds, hugs, novel experiences - when the time comes when we
encounter moments of happiness, treasure it. Life is alright, not bad at least, but still, room is
available for improvement - and that is enough.