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Why you feel unhappy
Escape the endless pursuit of happiness and discover a transformative perspective on life's true purpose, breaking free from the illusion of constant joy and finding deeper meaning.
💬 Dopamine Hit of the Week
Happiness isn’t a goal but a byproduct. The moment you stop chasing is the moment you make room to feel it.
I have given up on happiness.
And i do not mean in a pessimistic, “nothing matters & I hate my life” kind of way. But in a clear-eyed, soul-freeing kind of way.
Because chasing happiness is one of the biggest traps we constantly sell to ourselves.
The Happiness Hustle
Ask most people what they want out of life and they’ll say:
“I just want to be happy.”
But let’s be honest: What does that even mean?
Happiness is fleeting. It's an emotion, not a life philosophy or a meaningful life purpose. It comes and goes like a song stuck in your head but even worse it leaves you craving it when it eventually fades.
Like the waves on the shoreline of a beach it flows in and out of our mental state and consciousness.
Yet most of society is stuck on a hedonic treadmill — constantly chasing the next feel-good moment:
The next trip
The next relationship
The next income goal
The next reality TV show
The next 3-hour dopamine rush on socials
All to feel that happy with life.
And when the high fades? They think they’ve failed.
But here’s the truth:
Happiness isn’t a destination. It’s a visitor.
The more you try to trap it, the more it slips away.
🧠 Why I Gave Up on “Being Happy”
Because living for happiness is living for emotion.
And emotions aren’t stable. They’re waves.
It’s like building the foundation of your life on quicksand, sooner or later you feel the sinking of it all.
In 2020 during the pandemic & crazy shut down of the world, I was at home in my God parent’s basement for months and i did nothing but eat, sleep, play games, watch shows, anime & indulge in whatever pleasures. I did this to the point that, I failed damn near all my courses that semester.
That’s when I least 2 important lessons:
Don’t do what you want
and this
To be truly happy one must give up on the chase to be happy.
Instead, I started living for:
Fulfillment over excitement
Discipline over dopamine (Yes I know my newsletter is called Dose of Dopamine)
Meaning over mood
When you give up the obsession with “feeling good,” you finally make space to feel what matters:
Peace
Progress
Purpose
And ironically? That’s when you start feeling happy naturally. Without trying.
Happiness isn’t bad
Don’t get me wrong here, in no am I saying that happiness is bad or the desire to feel good is outright wrong.
Everyone likes to feel good no one want’s meaningless pain & suffering.
This is Dose of Dopamine after all.
Life is hard enough.
What I am saying is that in order to get sustained consistent maximized wellbeing, one must give up on the purist of happiness and man must create meaning beyond one’s self to obtain an everlasting Dose of Dopamine.
It’s not about you after all.
💭 Thought to Chew On
The goal isn’t to feel happy.
The goal is to be whole — even when you’re not.
Happiness isn’t the point.
Living meaningfully well is.
Let’s stop chasing fleeting emotions , and start building lives that matter.
— Mallentino
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