Does Working in The Field of Happiness and Well-Being Make You Unhappy?

The science of well-being and its implementation is relatively a new field. As its name suggests, everyone’s perception of this field is that those who represent it or work in this field are happy and positive all the time. Sadly that is not the case.

If you think that working in the field of happiness is an easy job, then you are completely wrong! Let me tell you my story, and about how this happiness influence came across my life. Back in 2016 after the official announcement of appointing H.E Ohoud Al Roumi as the UAE’s minister of happiness, all governmental entities in the country were required to form a “Happiness Team”. Therefore, my organization formed a team where I become one of its members, and that’s when people started calling me “the happy person.” Life was so good, and I had been allowed the chance to organize and initiate tons of activities where the “smiley face” was our go-to logo. I later earned my Master degree in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. I was this girl who was crazily excited to make that positive change and save the world, but once I got back, it felt as though life had turned its back on me! The picture I had created in my head was shattered, and I felt so alone in the bubble I had created for myself.

Once you are labeled as “the happy person,” almost everyone will expect to see you happy twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and you are not allowed to show any other emotion other than happiness. It makes them uncomfortable to see you out of that role. If you start complaining about anything – trust me when I say “anything” – everyone will make you feel that’s completely not normal. Working in this field has forced me to meet the most negative people, who I have never thought could exist in such ways, but they do. Your colleagues, friends, and sometimes your own family will expect you to have this sort of magical power to solve issues in their lives and come up with solutions that will ensure a happy ending to their challenges. Another sad fact, you will come across people -within the field- who intentionally neglect the aim of the field. Whereas the aim is to work on elevating other’s well-being, those people’s main focus shifts to competing rather than collaborating.

Now, I know you might be wondering “is it really so bad to work in the field of happiness?” To which my answer is “No, there are always two sides to any story.” Now, let me share with you the positive sides of working in this field. You will be more aware of your emotions and what drives your actions, and you will get to know other exciting sides of yourself as person, like what truly makes you happy and why it makes you happy. You will learn how you sometimes have the power to create a positive impact in your surroundings, like just appreciating your colleagues. You will learn the power of small acts of kindness and how that can also influence your life.  You will get the chance to read the most amazing, yet crazy research papers that prove to you the power of positivity, and if you take your work a step further, you will get the chance to meet the most exciting people who formed original theories on happiness and positivity.  You will be introduced as I was to a network of people who are eager to make that magical change in the world, and you will learn a lot from their challenges, and from all of their work.

As I am writing this article, Professor Martine .E. P. Selgiman, one of the positive psychology’s co-founders comes to my mind, and I recall how he created this field after he struggled to prove that human beings can reach a point where they are completely helpless, and now his focus is how to reverse that regression to prove that human flourishing is possible. With a heart full of hope I firmly believe that one day we will be able to work collaboratively uplifting and supporting each other to live a good life, a life worth living.