The obligation to be (or appear) happy

Who does not want to be happy?

Me.

Today that question roams the streets, knocks on the doors of houses and enters the head of any person. Happiness is no longer a goal or a simple state to enjoy, happiness is an obligation. You have to be happy at all times, for everything and, as far as possible, make others share in that happiness.

Finding happiness in self-help books

There is no consensus on an ideal of happiness. However that doesn't stop bookstores from appearing infested with self-help. That if in the end this is about self-help... why would the book of it serve us all? charlatan sellout? The books are not far from each other, nor are they far from the neoliberal doctrine that permeates this Europe of the 21st. "You do it all by yourself that I will continue to give lectures paid with public money from your taxes".

In the end you find someone who works 10 hours a day doing overtime for free and who, through their taxes or what they stop earning, they pay a guy who goes to the company to tell them that they have to be

happier, more employable, more positive, with activities to promote "teambuilding" that quoting the Nega would translate into "Do the sucker".

Happiness is not what they have told us

I say again that I don't want to be happy. If happiness was this. I understand that happiness would have to be based on other things. In order to Freud or Flaubert in stupidity as the basis of it. I prefer, as the song said, to think about health, money and love. In time to enjoy. And a little more. It is not too much to ask. Or yes, nowadays it seems like a lot to ask.

But one thing is that having money or time is complicated and another, quite different, is that you have to be happy for not being able to pay the house. Understanding happiness as that state of perpetuity of the smile, optimism and good vibes. Obviously, there are good moments in any life, of joy despite difficulties. But it becomes impossible under certain circumstances to achieve happiness 24 hours a day non stop what do they propose the gurus of the New Age, self-help, coaching and else coelhism.

The dictatorship of normal appearance

Sartre said: “Let's not waste any of our time; perhaps there were more beautiful ones, but this is ours ". I would not dare to say that there were better times, because this time has meant great advances, especially in life expectancy (We could assess whether extending life is good or bad under what conditions but it seems clear that almost everyone wants to live more).

What I do believe is that there are better lives, people who are luckier (being born is a coincidence) but we cannot exchange for so much we have to try to live our best, the one we have. But let no one come to demand anything from us, much less be happy under their ideals of supposed happiness. The famous phrase "each person has what they deserve" should be responded to with violence. Let's say no to the posture of wanting to appear happy.

I've decided that I don't want to be happy

I don't want to be happy. Whenever I have seen myself in front of a plate that looked appetizing, I have thought about eating it and not taking pictures of it, when I have been partying I have thought about continuing to drink and enjoy not stopping to take selfies and if I have gone out for a run, to the gym or to any place that involved doing sports, I have thought about doing it and then taking a shower, not writing hashtags.

I am therefore not an example of happiness, rather the opposite. The thing is... and you?