Feeling Good

Many people always say that ultimately we’re all just trying to be happy. For a long time I was one of those people my self. A couple of days ago, however, I realised that it isn’t actually true. It’s close, but it isn’t exactly it. With my armchair reasoning (the best kind of reasoning there is, since you don’t have to do any research) I came to the conclusion that we’re not all trying to be happy, we’re all just trying to feel good.

The difference might appear subtle, but I think it’s still significant. Happy is a very specific state of mind, while feeling good can be associated with a great deal more things. Feeling happy is something that people do not feel on a regular basis, but good is not that uncommon of a phenomenon.

Some people feel good feeling sad. Some people feel good when they’re suffering. Some people feel good sacrificing and some people feel good being abused in relationships. These people are clearly not happy doing these things, but yet they continue doing them. For that reason I seriously suspect that they are not after happiness, but just want to feel good.

This isn’t the moral kind of good, either. This is the physical kind of good, the one where specific substances are released and enjoyed by the body. The types of substances that then help reinforce that type of behaviour.

The body rewards and punishes certain types of behaviour based on nature and nurture triggers. Some of us just happen to be lucky enough to have triggers for productive actions, while others, unfortunately, have triggers for destructive behaviour.

I haven’t yet figured out how these triggers are implanted exactly (beyond nature and nurture), but I’ll be sure to tell you when I do.