Column by Tim Riley

There are two outlooks when it comes to the idea of happiness. The first holds that it is simply a series of fleeting moments. The other says that it is a more permanent state of mind. The dictionary says that it is, “emotions experienced when in a state of well-being,” which does nothing to solve the quandary unless one wants to debate the idea of well-being instead of happiness. More often than not though, the answer does not really matter. Unfortunately, there are certain times of the year when it simply becomes unavoidable.

There are some holidays which society really nailed. Christmas is amazing. The Fourth of July is always a blast. Others just seem pretty pointless. Columbus Day is always unremarkable, but it is a harmless exercise. On the other hand, some of the special days of the year just seem to be invented by the masochistic. In particular, Valentine’s Day seems to be around for no other reason than to depress people and make it difficult to navigate through Kroger.

Sure, there is an upside for a certain group of the population. For those walking about with a guy or girl they love, it is probably a happy experience; however, for those who prefer to toast to Singles Awareness Day instead, it’s a bit of a drag. For that one day, the world becomes a vivid reminder of the juxtaposition between the haves and have-nots.

One can attempt to solve this problem by exercising the fleeting moments theory of happiness. If things are not exactly going great, one can simply imbibe a ridiculous amount of alcohol, joke with people one met five minutes ago and text message everyone they know. This method will undoubtedly pay off temporary dividends. In general though, the answer to life’s problems is not located at the bottom of a shot glass.

If happiness was instead of a permanent state of mind, then such actions would not be necessary beyond the fact they might be enjoyable. One should simply be happy because they are constantly experiencing the state of well-being. In theory, this sounds like an excellent idea, but in practice it is not nearly so easy because the things which make people happy can often be so difficult to define.

A slice of pizza is delicious, but it does not really make one happy. Permanent happiness is more likely knowledge of purpose, goal accomplishment and the highs of the fruits of one’s labors. Under that idea, unless there is a certain progression of events streaming through one’s life on time, permanent happiness is unlikely and therefore the idea of its very existence is hoped against.

In the end though, it might be better to spend one’s time pursuing the permanence over the fleeting for the simple reason that the fleeting pursuance leads to major problems. There is obviously a physical toll of exhaustion to constantly replenishing the things which bring one joy, but there is also the cost of repairing the damage caused in the mad dash towards the next good moment. This dual threat is a major warning against the fleeting theory.

However, just because it is a more difficult idea, does not necessarily mean it’s incorrect. Assuming the earth was flat and everything revolved around it is a much simpler hypothesis than modern astronomy, but it is obviously incorrect. Problem is, this question is too much like those of any philosophy class. It can be debated all day, but there is no way to really test it and give it a finite answer.

On Valentine’s Day, the answer is probably just a matter of perspective for each person. Whichever one is more comforting is put into practice. The idea of permanent bliss feels wonderful and attainable if the day was spent in the most traditional of ways. On the other hand, if the weekend was spent like any other with the small addition of holiday annoyance, then the belief that one can simply continually gain happiness again and again is quite nice.

When one’s standing a hundred miles from the finish line though, it’s not wise to sit at the start and debate what will be seen at mile marker 30. One starts running and figures it out when it arrives. Similarly, instead of wasting another moment trying to answer a question that obviously can’t be solved at the moment, it might just be better to do the only thing left. Pick up the pieces of one’s screw ups, put out all the bridge fires, and keeping moving along. It’s better to be moving at a snail’s pace towards the answers than sitting in place.