06 May What’s better…seeking meaning or pleasure?
In a recent article published in The Huffington Post the author, Matt Tenney, suggested that if happiness were your goal then seeking meaning might be more important than seeking pleasure (and I should note that the very interesting article covers far more than this one, over-simplified sentence suggests AND that the full article is very much worth reading).
This hedonism versus purpose debate has long been argued, not just within the relatively new field of Positive Psychology but for many, many thousands of years within most religions and almost all schools of philosophical thought.
You can read the full article HERE but my point today is this…
…seeking happiness, or more accurately, living a good life, is complex and can never be captured in any one construct.
Pleasure is important.
Meaning is important.
Taking care of ourselves is important.
Caring for and taking care of others is important.
Focusing on the NOW is important.
Planning for the future is important.
Etcetera…I hope you get the message.
The reality is that there is NO ONE THING that will lead to happiness; and even if there were one thing that were most important for me it would be a different thing for you. You see we're all different and we all need to find our own "happiness recipes" – combinations of strategies that will satisfy and please. And even when we do find the right recipe, things change. So what works for you today might not still work in a week or a month or a year!
As always, I'd love to know your thoughts so please feel free to post your comments HERE on The Happiness Institute's Facebook Page – HERE