The Pursuit Versus the Avoidance of Happiness

​Happiness motivates someone to avoid an obligation and also influences him or her to delegate the task to another person. The amount of pain, both physical and emotional, as Owen (1921) references solidifies the deterrence for myself. I try to avoid this negativity in my day-to-day life. Kincaid (1978) depicts living with a dominant figure who is insatiable and will critique your every thought as well as movements; my personality would clash with this type of support system and the unnecessary stress associated with it. The thought of how some of my peers live their lives make me remorseful for their future. I am a happy-go-lucky person and they feel a strong obligation to complete tasks that may make them miserable in the process that I do not share. It will become apparent why this is the path I have chosen to take and how it has led me to achieve what many aspire for.

Happiness is a factor that motivates someone to avoid an obligation, we all have a limited amount of time and we want to spend it doing things we enjoy. If I am assigned a task that I find unfavorable such as walking my dog before school, I may attempt to get someone else to do it. In doing so it will allow me the opportunity to spend that time doing something that may bring me happiness while avoiding that obligation that brings me sadness. This is demonstrated by the works of Owen (1921), Kincaid (1978), and my decision for not conforming to society to experience a state of euphoria. While this may be controversial in some regards, I maintain a level of bliss that is not detected in my surroundings which instills this quality within me.

A driving force that motivates an individual to avoid an obligation is sacrificing pleasure for pain; “Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots, But limped on, blood-shod”, writes Owen (1921). The thought of being weary to the point of ‘march[ing] asleep’ signifies why anyone would want to avoid this sense of obligation including myself, it does not inspire the gratification I require. The struggle of having to do a task that causes pain in correlation with fatigue instills within me to want to run further away. The concept of ‘limp[ing] on’ and being in a state of ‘blood-shod’, illustrates an agony I refuse to endure. The notion of ‘los[ing my] boots’ and seeing blood coming out of my feet is not an experience I would volunteer for. If the obligation provided instant gratification I would be inclined to participate, but since this portrays a delayed satisfaction it would deter me.

​Another facet that would hinder an obligation would include being micromanaged as mentioned by Kincaid (1978), “this is how you sweep a corner; this is how you sweep a whole house; this is how you sweep a yard”. Would I be classified as a narcissist if I were to say that I have mastered the art of ‘sweep[ing] a corner, [..] a whole house, [or even] a yard’? I would imagine that would be the reaction of the protagonist from the article; they exude a dominance over the situation and this does not bond well with my personality. I believe that there is a stage of learning that is necessary to take place initially, but is there a certain way to optimally ‘sweep’? I presume if I were to do it the exact way this person wanted it done, it would never meet their standards. I cannot handle the stress that would accompany this situation for my persona; it would make me want to run as far away as possible when given the opportunity. It is apparent that some individuals believe we all are receptive to this type of dictatorship, but not all of us respond in the way that they would hope for. That is why I would have to strongly decline being put under the leadership of an individual such as this one, no matter how rewarding the possibilities may be.

​In my personal life I think that we are all given choices, some of us decide to live in a very safe manner while others decide to take more risks. When I balance out the options I think to myself, will prolonging my life and not experiencing anything worthwhile be worth it? Do I really want to be an older adult with no exciting stories to pass onto my grandchildren of when I was younger? This is what I believe is happening; many people conform to society because they feel an obligation to fit into the mold and do what is expected of them. I on the other hand think we should count the amount of moments that take our breath away and not the amount of breaths we take. This is why I avoid any and all obligations that bring me this discomfort, because will it be worth all of the hardship and sacrificing endured throughout the journey? That is a long-term gamble that I do not want to play and have the chance of losing after waiting so long.

​While obligations might be a call of duty to some, for me to is a call to avoidance due to a mere happiness I want to continue to have. As mentioned by Owens (1921) with the ‘blood-shod’ or Kincaid (1978) with ‘how to sweep a yard,’ it proves that avoidance of certain obligations is the right choice for me. I wept at the thought of the discomfort of those individuals with blood exuding from their feet, or the authoritarian lifestyle Kincaid wrote about. In my legacy, I want to enjoy the act of doing things; I do not want to go through the motions because that is what is expected of me. I am at peace when I think of the opportunities that I have taken as compared to my peers who might be frighten to do anything outside of the ordinary. I realize that many individuals spend their whole life attempting to achieve happiness by working long hours, going to college for many years, and even following certain dietary restrictions because the lifestyle it may award them. When I glance deeper, I refer back to that keyword may; it is a glimpse of hope that is ever so dim. Brainstorming of how I can make myself happy by doing all of those obligations, when I am happy currently without that added stress those individuals may encompass. This is why avoiding obligations should be the key ingredient in the pursuit of happiness.