Euphoria? Happiness?

Writer: Haidy Wazeery

Editor: Abdullah Sobhi

Euphoria isn’t real happiness. Real happiness isn’t euphoric.

   When you are sitting alone under the blue sky with your silk blanket over your shoulders and you are thinking about happiness, you are trying to see whether you are happy with your life or not. You start thinking if you have ever had happy moments or not.

Your mind goes back to that giveaway you won from your favorite author, that feeling of happiness you had when you saw your name in the list of winners. That feeling you had when you bought a new pair of shoes. That moment when your mom gave you permission to go out with your friends that Thursday evening. That moment of happiness you felt when you aced an exam.

That short, not so long-lasting moment. That slight feeling of happiness that lasts for no more than 24 hours. That happy moment that has the ability to make your day. It’s not happiness. It’s not real happiness, my dear friend. It’s not even that close to the feeling of real happiness. It’s Euphoria.

Those moments that were able to make up your day and make you feel that you were so damn lucky were euphoric moments. Euphoria is a slight feeling of happiness and excitement that lasts only for a few hours or more but not more than 24 hours.   

At night, when you are lying in your bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, you mistake your euphoric moments for real happiness. You try to be hopeful and so when someone asks you about the last time you felt happy, you bluntly say, “Yeah, remember that day we went out together? Ahhh! Remember that day I bought that expensive shoes? Or no, do you remember when I bought that new book?”

But if you really take a few seconds to think about these moments, do you still feel that excitement and happiness you felt when you bought that shoes? Are you still obsessing over that new book you bought? Does that hangout we had together still affect you?

No. No. No.

Those moments aren’t real happiness. You felt happy and excited over those silly things (that weren’t silly at the moment) because it was just the spur of the moment. But those euphoric moments won’t affect your life decisions, they won’t encourage you to take a certain decision or plan something for your future. You won’t always remember them because those few “happy” moments have nothing to do with your real constant happiness. They won’t add anything to your life, but we desperately need them when we are having a bad day or a shitty mood.   

On the other hand, real happiness is the entire opposite of euphoria. Real happiness is different. Real happiness affects your life decisions and future plans; it can even encourage you to do something new or take a new important decision in your life. Real happiness is that moment when you finally get the score that you have always wanted which results in getting into the college of your dreams, then studying your favorite major and getting your dream job. It’s when you finally get your passport stamped at the airport and you are on the way to the country of your dreams…

That’s real happiness, my dear friend. That moment when your boyfriend finally asks you to marry him. That moment when you confessed your love to the girl you love. That moment when your daughter or son got married, when you had your first grandchild. It’s that moment when you feel like you are over the moon. It’s when your heartbeats get so loud, you are breathless, and you can feel your heart pounding in your chest. You feel an enormous amount of happiness that you may even get overdosed.

   Real Happiness is the state of being happy for a long time, a long lasting feeling that affects your life in so many ways. Happiness is a long-lasting feeling unlike Euphoria. Happiness isn’t just a happy hour or that spur of the moment feeling. It’s so much more than that. Yes, euphoric moments are needed in our daily life, but real happiness is pivotal.