The line of people who don’t want to be happier is the shortest line in the world. When you ask why they want to be rich, to be famous, to have freedom, to generally do well in their lives, they will tell you that they “just want to be happy.” The Dalai Lama even says that happiness is the purpose of life. But there are many who contend that it is folly to chase happiness, to “follow your bliss.” Who is right? Why happiness?

What Flavor is Your Happiness?

The answer lies in how you define happiness. Traditionally, there are two different but related phenomena that fall under the definition of “happiness.”

The first is hedonic happiness, which is defined as seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. This type of happiness is now generally understood as the feeling of fun that comes from a day at an amusement park, or a great concert or party. While there is nothing wrong with this type of happiness, it is not a strong contender for your life’s work. Hedonic happiness can be random, is usually short-lived, and frequently comes with an emotional “crash” afterwords.

The second type of happiness is eudaimonic happiness. This kind of happiness was defined in the time of Aristotle, and now has a connotation closer to “well-being.” (Eudaimonic is Greek, and literally means “good spirits,” in the sense of the satisfaction that comes from pursuing the highest purpose you can imagine.)

Think of it this way: hedonic happiness is a transient, passive escape from discomfort. Eudaimonic happiness is a long-term, active pursuit of your highest good, your purpose. The former is something that you hope happens to you; the latter is something that you work towards to maintain for a lifetime.

This is what current thought leaders mean when they say it isn’t a good idea to chase happiness as a long-term path or profession. Hedonic happiness is smiles and laughter for a time; eudaimonic happiness is a sustained effort to live the best life you can envision. You may even experience considerable discomfort when you choose to create your own well-being, but the satisfaction of the eudaimonic path is worth the challenges.

Understood in this eudaimonic light, happiness is a worthy life goal. In fact, many would contend that eudaimonic happiness is the only thing that matters as you live your life.

What is the Highest Good?

(Going forward, let’s agree that when we use the word “happiness,” we intend the eudaimonic, well-being type, OK?)

Here is the cool thing, and the reason that pursuit of this type of happiness is a worthy goal: you get to define your own “highest good.” Maybe you believe that animals are the pinnacle of innocent, sentient life, so you devote yourself to wild animal rescue. You might decide that a deep understanding of nature is the best thing you can do, so you pursue a life of solitary travel in the wilderness. Perhaps you think that the highest good is to preserve consciousness into the deep future, so you seek to colonize other planets, to enable interplanetary - or even interstellar - human settlements.

My own purpose, for a long time now, has been to experience all that I can of this conscious interlude we call “life,” and then teach others who seek to understand and perhaps grow from that knowledge.

That path has led me to multiple graduate degrees, world travel and a lifetime of teaching, privately and in colleges and universities. The journey has frequently engendered periods of hedonic happiness as a side effect, but struggle and long periods of concentrated work have been much more common.

And for the last several decades, there is nothing I would trade for any of it.

The deep satisfaction that I derive from this work has been completely worth the considerable sacrifice I have had to endure. This sense of purpose has defined and enabled my well-being and has sustained me through even the most existential of crises.

When you understand that your work benefits something larger than you, it becomes much easier to overcome even significant personal hardship in the service of a larger purpose.

It’s Up To You

It is difficult to fully understand “why we are here” from an existential standpoint.    All of the great existential thinkers have wrestled with this concept, from Kierkegaard through Nietzsche, Sartre, and others, to researchers such as Csikszentmihalyi, Seligman, Dweck and their contemporaries, and existential psychotherapists (also called “positive psychology”) such as Rollo May, Victor Frankl, and Irvin Yalom, et al.

The general consensus is that we struggle with meaninglessness in our lives, in the sense that in a few generations, no one may know that we ever existed. At first glance, this may seem to be a depressing state of affairs. In fact, it is the most liberating mindset you can have:

If your existence truly doesn’t matter in a permanent sense, you can be anything you choose. So choose something wonderful.

And this is the central point. You - and you alone - are responsible to choose a path that allows you to be truly, eudaimonically happy; to pursue your greatest good and highest purpose as you define it.

Lastly, happiness - in the sense of well-being - is intimately related to your mental and physical health and longevity.

Happiness is No Laughing Matter

Happiness is not a trivial concept. People who report greater levels of happiness have less stress, anxiety, and depression, and higher cognitive function, creativity, social connectivity and more. Physically, happiness is correlated with many beneficial outcomes, like a stronger immune system, enhanced cardiovascular health, reduced inflammation, a reduced risk of chronic disease and a significant reduction in all-cause mortality.

TLDR: Happy people have improved mental and physical health, and live longer.

I have been around long enough to see many people become brittle and withered shells because they can’t find happiness. They end up becoming insufferable and their families put them in nursing homes. One day they just stop eating, and wait for death to overtake them - which it rapidly does.

Happiness is no joke. Pursue it like your life depends on it, because it just might.

Why Happiness?

To be truly happy is to define and pursue the highest good you can imagine. Spend your life doing this, and enjoy the deep satisfaction of real well-being.

And have some good, old-fashioned hedonic fun whenever you can.

Post-Script:

There are some days that, no matter what you try, you’re just going to feel sad. Everything reminds you of something that makes your heart break and all the usual things that you try to feel better may not work. On those days, immerse yourself in your work to be distracted and productive, and know - even if you can’t feel it - that tomorrow will probably be better.

(I am talking about situational dysphoria here; having a “bad day.” If you suspect that you are actually depressed, please see a mental health professional. I’ll be here when you’re ready to come back.)



To learn more about how to use these concepts or to inquire about working with me, you can contact me on the Hardcore Happiness website, the comments section on my Substack or Medium accounts or The Authentic Life Blog page. If you have found value in this article, follow my Instagram account for daily insights, or my X account for occasional tweets. To support this community, you can Buy Me A Coffee or donate through my Patreon account.

- JWW