Introduction
Many people think that happiness is the major goal that one should strive to achieve. They also aim at having perfect relationships that will make them happy. People think that engaging in many sexual relationships is a way of achieving the happiness they need in their lives. However, this kind of happiness is not the target of a life well lived (Speirs, 1988). This research paper will argue against the assertions that the target of life is seeking happiness. It will use case study by Chekhov for illustrating how this argument has applied in real life situation.
In the search for happiness, people end up in clubs where they spend most of their times chatting with friends. Here, they spend their money with these friends without remembering that they have other people who need them in their lives. It is possible to find the children and marriage partners of such people living miserable lives. This is what many call a happy life. Living this kind of life is dangerous as often people end up contracting diseases from the drugs abuse.
Body
While searching for happiness, many people end up marrying people they do not love. Their marriage is not a love-match but is derived from the pursuit of happiness associated with living with the person of their choice. The consequences of these actions are that these people end up becoming promiscuous in their marriages. This is regardless of the fact that their partners are honest to them and such situation deeply hurts them. The fact that conquering as more women as possible is regarded as a crucial component of happiness makes some men to continue with their promiscuous lives. Gurov is an example of such a man who pursued his vague happiness and abandoned his wife and children. Gurov married the wrong person whom he did not love and later left her. He met a woman with whom he fell in love. However the situation turned to become difficult as society knew that he was a married person and condemned his behavior. Happiness in this case ends in sad situations.
The search for happiness in most of the cases involves search for accumulation of wealth. Thus richness must be pursued by all means regardless of the fact that it may hurt the others. People in pursuit for wealth will do anything to acquire it. They may end up hurting the others and making them unhappy as long as they see their objective and continue reaching it (Wilson, 2008). They may watch as their family members face many problems but never give any assistance. If everyone pursued happiness in the society using this method, then life would not be worth living. There would provide everyday conflicts between people and form a fear of life.
The research has shown that thirst for happiness can destroy the lives of individuals. When people are experiencing too much happiness, they become less creative. There is a deception in happiness since people feel that they have achieved all they want in life. They are not willing to take risks in various situations for their benefits. Such people do things that assure them of their happiness. However, they ignore things that are important to their lives and this may cause problems later on. In search for happiness, people are tempted to engage in risky behaviors that can increase their chances of death (Wilson, 2008). Drugs are thought to make people happy. However, drugs increase the chances of death of individuals.
Happiness makes people to feel relaxed and seek no opportunities. Once individuals achieve the goals of happiness in their lives, they seem to be relaxed and ignore others. They tend to live lonely lives and this leads to unhappy feeling (Speirs, 1988). Therefore, pursuit for happiness may at the end lead to unhappy conditions. It is important to note that some types of happiness may not be reasonable. When people have achieved a lot they usually feel very happy of themselves, and their pride grows. They do not realize that they need other people in their lives. This can lead to miserable lives.
The happy lives often include another, secret side of life of individuals. Gurov, for instance, has a lot of secrets in his life just while searching for happiness. This hidden life is known to him only. Once a person has achieved the demanded happiness, this part of life immediately changes into a kind of disturbance. At that moment people often come to realization that they have forgotten and thus hurt other people who are close to them. Since they are not willing to seek for forgiveness, these people are tortured psychologically for the rest of their lives. This psychological torture is what destroys their happiness. When people realize that they have been doing wrong things to live a happy life, happiness ends.
The case against happiness is nihilistic as it shows how life could be worthless if people pursue happiness. It should be emphasized that everlasting happiness is what people are always looking for and never find. People will count their lives to be worthless if their cherished happiness comes to an end. After one has achieved all what he/she needs and becomes happy, life becomes worthless since they will have no other reasons to live. If there is no other goal to achieve the life becomes worthless (Pecqueur, 2006).
The best way to pursue happiness is through doing the right things. The author tries to demonstrate that happiness should be a byproduct of right and good life but not the goal. When people live a good life, they will be happy for sure. On the other hand, pursuing a happy life leads to doing wrong things that disturb people in their future. People should be aware of life after death. Doing the right things makes people to hope for life after death. People should aim at doing right things as the objective of their lives.
Loving others and being loved in return should be the goal of life. People should aim at making others happy and helping them to solve their problems. In return, everyone will obtain an opportunity to achieve real happiness. However, someone’s sure way to happiness could cross the routes of others and thus could destroy others’ happiness. People should aim at serving the others (Pecqueur, 2006). Happiness comes when right things are done to other people. The other goal of life should be to love others. As it is said: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If everyone endeavors doing so the life would be worth living and everyone could be happy.
It is always important to love marriage partners. Serving them will make them happy and in return could bring happiness. The children should be treated and brought up so that they can achieve their goals. People need to love the others and to help them in solving their problems. If people love each other in marriage, love their children and other people, they do right things. By doing right things people will live the right life. This is the most important thing in life if it is achieved, and thus happiness will be realized.
Conclusion
The argument in this case is that happiness should not be the major goal pursued by individuals. It should be a byproduct of another goal. Loving others (marriage partners, children, and neighbors) should be a goal to achieve by doing right things. If this goal is reached, the happiness will come effortlessly. Otherwise pursuit for happiness means doing wrong things to others resulting in happiness vanishing; and regrets will cause sadness in the rest of life. When life is eliminated from the equation, it becomes a variable that is not sought for but just a byproduct that is achieved after the major goals have been achieved.
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