We Shouldn't Pursue Happiness
Months ago or maybe a month ago, time is blurring all together, I asked what the difference was between happiness and fulfillment. Many of the answers matched my thinking. So before I get to my thoughts on the matter let us start with differentiating between the two concepts.
The difference between fulfillment and happiness is simply one of depth and time. The best way to explain this difference is with food. Happiness is like eating your guilty pleasure food like candy or a greasy burger from your favorite fast food joint. While you eat you feel euphoric and satisfied, but it is not the type of nutrition that your body can use efficiently. Fulfillment is like a well-balanced meal that makes your body feel powerful and can help you run more efficiently, because your body is getting all the elements it needs.
Happiness are moments. I felt happy when I was with my friends in a pub talking with foreign strangers. I felt happy when I got my first permanent teaching job. Happiness did not last long as relationships change and the imbalance of work began to add up. People turn to temporary fixes to feel happy as a quick solution to the fact that maybe they are not being fulfilled. Sometimes people stay in relationships, because of the memories of many happy moments even though they know they are really not getting what they need from it. Commercials appeal to the chase of happiness. Even in our Declaration of Independence states we have a right to pursue this feeling (meaning money). Maybe though chasing happiness has led us down the wrong path. We even get jealous of seemingly moments of 'happiness' on facebook. Those pictures show us moments. Not the overall quality of one's life.
Maybe we should celebrate the idea of living a fulfilled life rather than a happy one. Might not sound as sexy, but fulfillment is simply happiness with an intentional purpose. You seek people in your life that help encourage you be the best person you can be and have attributes you admire. You seek a career in your life that aligns with your world view, but you also make sure that your life is more than your career. You have important conversations with yourself about what you need out of this life. If you are being fulfilled the bad days are survivable, because you have given yourself what you needed to get through. Suffering, disappointment, and stress are apart of life. It comes from caring about people, places, and ideas something we should never let go of. But we should be striving for a balanced life just like we should be eating more balance meals. Our minds and bodies need it.
So I am flipping the script a little. We need to stop seeking temporary bliss and start doing the hard work of finding what fulfills us. What makes our soul sing? What do we need when we are sad? What do we need when we feel lost? What do we need when we feel overwhelmed? Not what we want, what we need. Not what dulls the bad. Not the temporary moments that might be relief, but the ingredients in our lives that make the art of living more efficiently.
So let's pursue fulfillment. We all deserve to feel our lives have purpose and to know that when life throws us curve balls we can survive it.
"Life, liberty, and the pursuit of fulfillment."
The difference between fulfillment and happiness is simply one of depth and time. The best way to explain this difference is with food. Happiness is like eating your guilty pleasure food like candy or a greasy burger from your favorite fast food joint. While you eat you feel euphoric and satisfied, but it is not the type of nutrition that your body can use efficiently. Fulfillment is like a well-balanced meal that makes your body feel powerful and can help you run more efficiently, because your body is getting all the elements it needs.
Happiness are moments. I felt happy when I was with my friends in a pub talking with foreign strangers. I felt happy when I got my first permanent teaching job. Happiness did not last long as relationships change and the imbalance of work began to add up. People turn to temporary fixes to feel happy as a quick solution to the fact that maybe they are not being fulfilled. Sometimes people stay in relationships, because of the memories of many happy moments even though they know they are really not getting what they need from it. Commercials appeal to the chase of happiness. Even in our Declaration of Independence states we have a right to pursue this feeling (meaning money). Maybe though chasing happiness has led us down the wrong path. We even get jealous of seemingly moments of 'happiness' on facebook. Those pictures show us moments. Not the overall quality of one's life.
Maybe we should celebrate the idea of living a fulfilled life rather than a happy one. Might not sound as sexy, but fulfillment is simply happiness with an intentional purpose. You seek people in your life that help encourage you be the best person you can be and have attributes you admire. You seek a career in your life that aligns with your world view, but you also make sure that your life is more than your career. You have important conversations with yourself about what you need out of this life. If you are being fulfilled the bad days are survivable, because you have given yourself what you needed to get through. Suffering, disappointment, and stress are apart of life. It comes from caring about people, places, and ideas something we should never let go of. But we should be striving for a balanced life just like we should be eating more balance meals. Our minds and bodies need it.
So I am flipping the script a little. We need to stop seeking temporary bliss and start doing the hard work of finding what fulfills us. What makes our soul sing? What do we need when we are sad? What do we need when we feel lost? What do we need when we feel overwhelmed? Not what we want, what we need. Not what dulls the bad. Not the temporary moments that might be relief, but the ingredients in our lives that make the art of living more efficiently.
So let's pursue fulfillment. We all deserve to feel our lives have purpose and to know that when life throws us curve balls we can survive it.
"Life, liberty, and the pursuit of fulfillment."
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