There are also those of us who seem to revel in not being happy. These are the people who snarl and snap all day and actually seem to get perverse pleasure out of it.
But, are we obsessed with happiness?
A new survey by Yale University researchers has found that levels of expectation about happiness are unreasonable and set young people up for failure.
The researchers found that more teenagers and young people were depressed thanks to dreams of easy success and disappointment when they were not achieved.
Yale also found that adults who took advice on how to be happy from magazines often wound up feeling worse.
Chris Skellett, a Dunedin clinical psychologist and author of the book Happiness Is Not Enough, said the pursuit-of-happiness doctrine especially values the success of children, putting on pressure from a young age and predisposing them to the view that success is an emotional right.
"The word pursuit in itself implies an emphasis on success and change which is a very western approach to happiness."
This is so true. Most western children are taught to go out and get what they want. Kids these days want everything they can get, generally get everything they want, but are still not happy because they want more. People often think they can become happy by taking as much as they can, when in reality giving can make you even happier. You can also find happiness in the success of others, especially family members. As a parent, some of the happiest moments I have had have been when my children have succeeded in something.
It would seem that the problem with happiness is that the more you pursue it, the more elusive it becomes. It is when you just get on with life and try to be content with what you have, that you find happiness sneaking up on you.
