"Happiness Can Be Fleeting" - The Path to Happiness (Part 2)
How do you become happy and successful?
I can tell you with certainty that it isn’t by setting concrete goals and working endlessly to achieve them.
If happiness and success came down to saying “I want to be a software engineer making $85,000+ a year.”, anyone willing to put in the effort could probably achieve it in a fairly short period of time. The question is, what do you do after you’ve achieved that goal? Do it forever? Will it really make you feel happy the majority of the time? No.
Life is Integrated.
Happiness won’t come (and stay) just because you have a good job or a family you love. Those make happiness more accessible, for moments here and there – but alone, they aren’t enough to sustain it.
All aspects of your life must be integrated for you to be happy and successful.
In part 1, I defined life success as:
A state of happiness resulting from the productive pursuits of one’s interests – where every life decision integrates core values and beliefs.
But what is happiness, and what is meant by a “state of happiness”?
Happiness, Defined.
Have you ever engaged with children trying to learn something? It’s almost impossible not to be happy as you watch them grasp new ideas and integrate them, laughing and running all along the way. It doesn’t matter how bad your life might be, children can almost always bring a moment of happiness into your life.
When you leave them, that happiness may last for a few minutes or hours, but eventually the reality of your life sets back in. There is a big difference between being momentarily happy and being in a state of happiness. The former is fleeting, while the latter is a result of many hours of hard work and commitment to yourself.
I see happiness as follows:
Happiness:
An emotional feeling of pleasure or contentment; often a result of good company or a particular activity.
With that definition in mind, to become happy you can put yourself into a situation that makes you feel good, or surround yourself with people who make you feel lighthearted and content. But clearly sustaining your life requires that you do more than stick yourself into pleasurable spots to feel temporarily happy. That approach just is not sustainable.
Before I define happiness as a state of being (in Part 3), here are some questions for you to consider:
What do I want to change in the world?
What do I love doing?
What type of people do I want in my life?
How can I become the best version of myself?
What experiences do I want to have?
Catch up on the series:
Part 1 – “The Life You Desire Can Be Created”
Part 2 - "Happiness Can Be Fleeting"
Part 3 - "Creating the Good Life" (Coming Soon)
Photo Cred:
Smiley Face: Dan Rockwell
Kids Playing: Prayudi Hartono
I would have to add that happiness is, in fact, fleeting. There are so many things that are beyond our control. As we experience life and move through the motion of time, so do our expectations and perception of reality. What may make us "happy" may not necessarily make us "happy" in future. I guess happiness changes according to our unique circumstances and environment all the time.
To be constantly happy is just an illusion.......
I agree with most of your perspective, particularly that things beyond our control impact us and that our preferences change.
The key is to achieve a "state of happiness", which is the topic of part 3! It doesn't mean constant happiness, I can tell you that.
in that case, I can't wait to read the part 3 of the happiness series! :D
I'm glad to hear it! I hope you'll comment on that post in the same way you did on this one - with a unique perspective and legitimate points.
sure do. Honestly, I do believe in adding value in a post that is well-written and urges readers to think critically, besides, of course, the financial reward of curation and commenting. If we can provoke great and in-depth discussion, then the entire community gets to benefit, right?
Or maybe I'm just in my utopian world. haha
No, no... there are others who share that same view. Quite a few of them around here, too. I'll always welcome your feedback, so keep it coming!
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Looking forward to the third part about creating a happy life. :)
Me too! It's a fun discussion. I hope you took the time to reflect on the questions posed at the end of part 2, and that you've followed so you don't miss part 3!
motivated
Glad to hear it!
Great post
Noted and appreciated!
Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by justinchase from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, and someguy123. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows and creating a social network. Please find us in the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.
If you like what we're doing please upvote this comment so we can continue to build the community account that's supporting all members.