I spend 99% of my time in my living on the 5Ws (where, when, what, who and why) in the hope that if I can figure out the right combination of the 5Ws, I will be happy.
I have some backgrounds in math so this usually translates into an equation in which I can optimize mathematically (please bear with me) that is P(Happiness|5Ws). This is the same as saying: the probability of happiness is governed by the 5Ws that I want. A large part of my life is to test each W or a combination of them and to see if I'm happy about the outcome of it. So far, my luck on this search is quite low. This is not surprising after I compute that if there are 10 places to choose (where), the time it occurs during the day (12 hours), the things I want to get (what), with whom I want to do it (who) and the purpose of it (why), this is a huge number even I constraint the number of people I want to be with (10) and the number of things I want to get (10). This adds up to 12000 possibilities. Let assume that I try out 1 combination a day, it still takes me 33 years to complete the search. Everyone should be frustrated by then because this is insane. However, it is easy to prove that the above line of thought is incorrect because I did experience some moments of happiness in my past 30 years. Does it mean that lucks are all you need to experience happiness? This doesn't make sense to me.
A Hidden Variable: The How
After I did some studies/readings on how other people find their happiness, I'm convinced that the how is more important than the 5Ws. That is how I do X is more important than where, when, what, who and why. How is 1 variable, so mathematically it is simple. Buddha summarizes the How nicely in 2 words: No Suffering. By carrying this state of "No Suffering" to the 5Ws I do during the day, I cannot guarantee that I will find happiness. However, I'm certain that if I carry "Suffering", there is no way I will find happiness. Therefore, happiness can only be found when I carry the state of "No Suffering".Summary: Keep this "No Suffering" state within you for every second in your life is critical for your well-being.
