Is Happiness the ultimate goal of life

Many hold the belief that the ultimate goal in life is to be in a state of complete contentment, free of struggle and suffering. However, one must take into consideration that all things are relative. Without salt, there is no sweet; without dark, there is no light; without suffering, happiness cannot exist.

A life consisting only of happiness would quickly lose its beauty. It would be living life in a straight line; every day, happiness would deteriorate further into normalcy, until finally one would be caught in a state of boredom. Happiness would become like a drug – more and more would be needed to lift the spirits until, finally, stagnation would be the only sensation remaining, there being no further levels of happiness to be achieved. The smallest hitch in a plan would feel like ultimate devastation.

So what are my thoughts on this? Happiness is one of the goals of life not the ultimate goal. If feeling content was all we needed then we need not be intelligent for that. Cows in the pasture are quite content with their state of being. So, we need to look at our lives - what is our purpose, what is our function and what we want to be? I want to be a good person, while feeling happiness among all the other suffering and worries we might have. I want to work out the challenges of life with the help of my family and friends and I want to make the world a better place with small steps :)

Happiness is flourishing and growing in the midst of crisis. Happiness is to love life, enjoy the purpose of your life and be who you want to be (Or who you are)

One of the examples of a happy person I can think of is the character Andy Dufresne from The Shawshank Redemption. Despite his predicament, he found a way to flourish and triumph. He built a library, amassed a fortune, helped others, played chess, got revenge, and tunneled his way out of that place. That character gives us an example to live by.

What about Forest Gump Movie? He was naive, but it was Love, Love of life, love of things he wanted to do that made him happy :)

Some thoughts from my side :) Please feel free to share your thoughts on Happiness and goals of life.