Doesn’t everyone want to be happy?

Superficially, when we wish someone a happy birthday, it would seem that we are wishing them to be happy on that particular day, which is at the same time obvious and absurd. In the broad sweep of a life, a birthday is a fairly random segment of time. We may or may not feel happy on the day, depending on what’s going on in the world, what’s going on in our life and more especially, what’s going on in our head. And it begs an underlying question: how important is it to be happy?

That may seem like a strange question. Doesn’t everyone want to be happy? In fact, the belief in happiness is not as universal as most assume. The Stoics, for example, aim rather for contentment, irrespective of their external circumstances. Likewise, the Buddhists teach non-attachment, a path to inner peace, rather than the emotional highs and lows of life’s rollercoaster ride. And existential psychologists emphasise the search for meaning, rather than happiness.

And what of the birthday itself? It marks a rather arbitrary journey of the Earth around the sun. More important is what the day symbolises. Our birth – the sheer improbability of it and the mind-blowing complexity of the person we have become – is something to marvel at and to celebrate. More especially, our special place in the lives of others such as family and friends; this is worth pausing for and taking time to be grateful for.