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Boosting happiness by pursuing well-being together Happiness is still important to us as individuals, but turns out that harmony as a collective is what helps us to truly pursue well-being. Having access to affordable housing – the UN believes this is a human right that plays into our well-being.Having a sense of trust – including in the leaders, lawmakers, and people who are protecting our safety.Having strong social relationships with others.Feeling accomplished, mastered, or skilled at what we do.A balance of positive and negative emotions (happiness and suffering).When it comes to well-being, here are some of the key markers: Many other aspects – including not only psychological and physical wellness, but also the health of our financial and social justice situations – factor in. And considered holistically, happiness is just a small component of well-being.
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If you look to the UN's 17 sustainable goals, third on that list is "health and well-being" – clearly, that's currently a major priority for the organization. It's at this point that we realize what's incorrect about the idea that happiness is the opposite of sadness: we can't really have one without the other.Īnd that's a big reason why researchers and experts now say that we shouldn't be pursuing happiness but, instead, should be pursuing well-being. Okay, maybe the feeling of relief comes first, but happiness often follows. Writing a book (I can most certainly attest to that), running a marathon, completing a PhD, giving birth – they all cause pain, but the result of our efforts is usually happiness. And, while we lose people we love, we wouldn't have chosen a life without them.Īll the good – that is, "happy" – things in life include some level of suffering. If that seems contradictory, consider this: Studies have shown that living a life of happiness includes having loving relationships – but we know from experience that love can also be the cause of pain. But that doesn't necessarily mean we're unhappy. In fact, we've all gone through at least some pain this past year. Pain, and its companion emotions, is an inescapable consequence of being human. Every one of us, even the most fortunate, will experience some form of pain, loss, suffering, boredom, loneliness and/or sadness over the course of our lifetime.
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If happiness isn't the opposite of sadness, then what is it?Ī better definition starts with a better understanding of our emotional life. That perspective implies being happy means having fewer of the chemical reactions that make you sad and more of the reactions that make you happy.īut that isn't how depression works – it's not a plus-minus arrangement. However, over the last couple of centuries, happiness has become something we consume – we can't seem to get enough of it.Īnd we've come to view this thing we want, happiness, as something like a diagnosis – a state that's the opposite of sadness or depression. In fact, honour, living a life of honour, used to trump being happy. So, how did the pursuit of happiness become such a big focus for so many people? Why do so many of us feel that happiness is something we're always chasing?Ĭuriously, happiness hasn't always been an important life goal. A brief history of the pursuit of happiness Those studies also show that, conversely, the less we focus on happiness attainment, the happier we are. Over the past 10 years, numerous studies have shown that our obsession with happiness may be making us less content with our lives, and less effective at reaching our actual goals. Happiness is a goal we're all supposed to be striving for, right?īut what if the pursuit of happiness is actually making us… well, unhappy? Some people feel enormous pressure to be happy.