Happiness Left Behind

People work for a living.

More than that, people work in pursuit of happiness, for a better future and to achieve self-realisation.

So why is it that our lives are increasingly UNhappy, exponentially growing in emptiness (don't know if that phrase makes sense. after all, how can nothing become MORE nothing?).

My friend told me that when he was in his home village, every one worked hard. Properly hard manual labour. But every one in the village was like family. Parents stay with their children. If any one in the village needs help, all the members of the community chip in. Most importantly, he was happy then.

Have we got our sights on the wrong things? Popular sentiments would tell you that we most undoubtedly have. But in my opinion, those protests to a superficial life are superficial themselves at best. How do I know that? I know it because nothing's changing. In fact it's getting worse.

It seems to me that people are just trying to feed an insatiable beast with whatever they can get their hands on. If the world truly realizes how futile it is to pursue material "well-being", then surely it must change. Right?

Wrong. The reason is because it's too comfortable to remain in status quo.

I know I sound apocalyptic or even detached from the world. I'm not. I just as part of the world as everyone else.

It's just that I find myself repeatedly asking this question:

As we leave our homes, our families and our friends in pursuit of our happiness, have we already left our happiness behind?