By Kavya Sharma, Student, DAV College, Chandigarh
In today’s fast-paced world, almost everyone is running behind something to achieve. Happiness is often misunderstood and misrepresented as an endpoint that people are thriving to pursue or claim on reaching a certain milestone or fulfilling a long-desired goal.
Whether it’s landing a high-paying job, buying a house, entering a relationship or achieving academic success, many of us believe that happiness will automatically follow once we reach our desired goal. But does this really happen? Do we really feel completely satisfied with our achievements ever?
Why Happiness Often Feels Out of Reach?
Individuals often become so focused on striving toward the future that they forget to experience and appreciate the present moment.
The problem with this approach is that happiness becomes conditional and delayed, something that constantly lies just out of reach. When the long-awaited goal is finally achieved, the satisfaction it brings is often fleeting, quickly replaced by the next pursuit, the next ambition, or the next societal benchmark.
Some prominent authors from the field of positive psychology have repeatedly mentioned the hedonic treadmill, a phenomenon where individuals quickly adapt to positive changes and return to a baseline level of happiness.
As soon as we achieve one goal, our expectations shift, and the pleasure fades, prompting us to pursue the next thing often without pausing to appreciate what we’ve already attained. This never-ending chase can leave people emotionally depleted, chronically dissatisfied, and disconnected from their inner sense of peace, when they perceive happiness as a destination.
Happiness as a journey
We can feel content and joy once we see happiness as a journey rather than a mere destination. At some point in your life, you must have heard people say, “Don’t run after happiness, try to be thankful to each day you spend on earth, each day you spend with your loved ones and everything you have.
Try to live and enjoy the present, and the happiness will automatically follow you along your journey in life”
Therefore, rather than being something that can be acquired or possessed, happiness is better understood as an ongoing process, a way of engaging with life on a daily basis through mindful awareness, emotional resilience, meaningful connections, and intentionally positive actions.
It is not found at the end of the journey but within the journey itself in the small, often unnoticed moments of daily life that offer joy, connection, and purpose when we allow ourselves to be present for them.
And there are multiple ways to foster daily, out of which some of the easiest yet widely practised ones are:
- Gratitude Journaling: Writing down just three things you are grateful for each day, in a personal journal or diary, has been linked to increased optimism, alertness, sense of self-worth, fewer physical illness symptoms, and stronger social connections.
- Mindful Pauses: Take moments throughout your day to breathe, re-centre, and simply observe yourself without judgment, as self-introspection works the best.
- Acts of Kindness and Connection: spending time with those who matter to you or even simple gestures like holding the door, sharing a smile, offering help, can foster stronger bonds and enhance emotional well-being.
- Working on hobbies: everyday, spare some time to engage in activities that you love, for instance, creativity, workout, dance, singing, etc. doing this offers a sense of contentment in your daily routine as they align with your strengths.
- Spend time in nature: Spending even a small amount of time outdoors or moving your body can have a powerful effect on your mental and emotional well-being. Nature has a calming influence. It slows us down, helps us feel grounded, and allows our nervous system to reset from the stress of daily life.
According to the World Happiness Report 2025, Finland has been named the happiest country in the world for the eighth year in a row, based on how people rated their own lives between 2022 and 2024. But this happiness isn’t simply because of money or wealth. In fact, what truly sets Finland apart are the strong relationships between people, a deep trust in others, a supportive society, and simple shared traditions, like regularly spending time in nature or relaxing in saunas with friends and family, a balanced lifestyle, with shorter workweeks, generous parental leave, and strong community support structures. These everyday values and habits create a sense of well-being that goes far beyond material success.
Conclusion
Happiness is not a final goal we arrive at, but a continuous experience we cultivate through the choices we make every day. It lives in small moments, in the way we treat ourselves and others, in the gratitude we express, and in our ability to find meaning in the ordinary. When we stop chasing happiness as a far-off reward and begin to notice it in our daily routines, in our connections, and in the present moment, we begin to understand its true nature. By being mindful, embracing what we have, and choosing joy in simple acts, we create a life that feels full and grounded. Happiness may not be a destination we reach one day, but it is most certainly a path we can walk every day.