What Is Happiness?
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How do you feel about this definition of happiness?
Happiness is felt when one is:
- engaging in satisfying work
- avoiding negative events and emotions
- feeling gratitude, forgiveness and optimism
Is happiness enough?
Not for Me. And I’d argue it’s not enough for You either. For our Innerpreneurial drive isn’t fueled by our lack of happiness and our desire to obtain it, rather it’s fueled by our desire for meaning.
First comes happiness, then comes meaning?
I’d say choosing to be happy — choosing to engage in satisfying work, choosing to avoid negative events and emotions, choosing to feel gratitude, optimism, and forgiveness — provides you with the ability to seek beyond the pleasant life and explore possibilities that bring you greater significance.
I’d insist that your happiness has allowed you to identify your need to be in service of something larger than your Self. I’d assert your choice to be happy is the foundation on which you’ve cultivated your belief in your Self and your value, and fostered your faith that You can create the change you seek.
They way I see it is without happiness in our life we don’t have hope, and without hope we can’t realize our desire for and our ability to create meaning.
What do you think?
photo credit: just Luh
