Happiness is something, we all desire but, little we think about what happiness comes from.
Stop reading for a while and try to think what exactly gives you happiness?
Anyone?
Happiness is an emotion that is released as a by-product in the process of synthesis of fulfilment.
Fulfilment has a different meaning for each one of us. For some it is in pursuing a dream, for others, it is in building a business, for more it is in seeking life pleasures. The list is a never-ending one.
The source of fulfilment may be different but, one thing that is common is that long-term fulfilment comes if we work hard and try to excel in whatever we do or better say when we seek Eudaimonia.
What is Eudaimonia?
It’s a Greek word which in its English translation is used as happiness but, actually has a much broader meaning. It means Human flourishing.
Aristotle says that everything we do such as gain knowledge, earn money, seek pleasure etc.is in some way or the other related to the final aim of living the best possible life. But, we don’t try to live the best possible life for something else.
Thus, Aristotle argues that excelling i.e. living in the best possible way a human can live is the final end and that he calls Eudaimonia.
Aristotle explains Excellence beautifully as,
Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.
He says it’s not important what we do but how we do it? and further explains that Eudaimonia is an activity, not an emotion like happiness.
Putting it simply,
“What is Eudaimonia?”
and
“What is the best a human is capable of?” have the same answers.
Now, you may ask, what Eudaimonia has to do with happiness?
Eudaimonia, i.e. excelling or even trying to excel in whatever you do gives you fulfilment which in turn releases happiness as it’s a by-product.
This relationship reminds me of the character of Rancho in the Bollywood movie 3 Idiots who used to say,
Seek Excellence, Success will follow you.
From there we can derive,
Seek Eudaimonia, Happiness will follow you.
Now the question that might erupt in your mind is, “how to go about in search of Eudaimonia.”
That really seems to be a difficult nut to crack. But, as I say, things are much easier in reality than in our manufactured thoughts.
Here I am sharing some of the simple ways that have really helped me in my search for Eudaimonia.
Here are they:
#1: Find your purpose in life:
The purpose of life,
That has become a heavy term these days. But, we don’t need to take it that way. By purpose what I mean here is finding your Eudaimonia.
We need a reason to wake up happily in the morning.
Find your purpose and follow it as a hobby or a profession. It can be reading books
Trust me, once you have found the activity that resonates with your existence, you will not need to strive for happiness anymore.
#2: Understand that there is no perfect method of doing things:
There is not a single method of doing things. The beauty of life is in travelling the less travelled path. Stop accepting everything you are told.
Fuck society, devise your own ways of dealing with life. Let them not tell you which degree to pursue, how to dress, to follow a religion or not, whom and when to marry. Drop the urge to fulfil what society expects of you.
It’s your life and you are its protagonist. You don’t need to follow someone else’s way of doing things.
Spend more time with yourself that will help you develop the art of reasoning.
The thing that worked for someone will not necessarily work for you. Appreciate the Gifts of Imperfection and let go of who you think you’re supposed to be and embrace who you are
Every human is unique in one way or the other and they are free to find their unique Eudaimonia in their own way
#3: Overcome fear:
Try to do things which you fear because there can be no better fulfilment than overcoming fear.
We are surrounded by our own silly manufactured fears. Fear of expressing ourselves. fear of talking to our crush, fear of building a new business.
I have already discussed that life is much simpler in reality than in your manufactured thoughts. Don’t let your silly logic, ruin the beauty of life. Possibilities arise from touching the untouched not from holding on things that will always stay by your side.
Charles Bukowski once said,
We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.
Who knows, if you are lucky enough, you may find your Eudaimonia in one of your fears.
#4: Invest time and money in experiences:
There is no point in doing the same thing again and again. Humans get bored very soon. We must invest in new experiences.
Travel and explore new places, meet new people, read more books, learn new skills in your free time or start a new business.
The problem dear reader is that we have only one life and that too an extremely short one. No point waiting until retirement.
Start Living in the present.
You never know what may help you in finding your Eudaimonia.
#5: Value your time:
Time is all you have and you may find one day that you have less than you think.
said Mr Randy Pausch. in his The Last Lecture that went viral on Youtube. Respect the undefined amount of time you have. That’s your greatest asset.
Learn to manage it because it has this property of expanding or contracting according to its owner.
Parkinson’s law of time management (Infinite Success)
So, its entirely up to you whether you want to be entangled in work or spend some quality time with yourself.
No, I am not talking about meditation, I mean a date with your true self.
And, when you start spending time with yourself sooner or later you are bound to discover your Eudaimonia.
That’s all we have for today. Thanks a lot for tuning in to HappinessDhaba. Do let us know your views in the comment section.
Signing off with my favourite words.
Zindagi Zindabad!
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An Engineer-Turned-Psychologist who loves Literature.
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