Last update: December 13, 2017
How many times have we asked ourselves if we are really happy? Why do we sometimes feel so lost that we don't know exactly which direction we should take? Finding the meaning of our life is to discover, at least in part, happiness and the key to achieving it.
The old world debate of philosophy and psychology regarding what it means to be happy in everyday life, today is about the actual existence of happiness, whether it is only temporary or whether one can be truly happy. The answers to these questions, of course, depend on the meaning we give to happiness.
Based on this, our well-being will become impossible, transitory or attainable. In recent years, several studies have been conducted on the concept of happiness, with which different conclusions have been reached.
Attempts have also been made to establish lines of separation and relationship with other closely related concepts, such as that of joy. In any case, what most authors agree on is that there is a subjective part in the definition of happiness that everyone must discover and define, and which is perhaps why it is so fascinating.
“One day, somewhere, somewhere, you will inevitably meet with yourself. And this, only this, can be the happiest or the most bitter of your days. "
-Pablo Neruda-
Happiness is a personal inner state
We can be happy and be unhappy; we can be sad and be happy. This is what emerges in a longitudinal study based on the happiness of people in more than 148 countries, the conclusion of which is that this concept is an inner state and that it does not have much to do with what happens outside our skin, rather with what happens inside our skin.
According to this study on happiness, for example, Spaniards live an average of 58,8 happy years. This figure places the country at the top of a list made up of a total of 148 nations, representing a large amount of people (i.e. over 95% of the world's population).
The results of another Harvard longitudinal study show that happiness is an enduring inner state, and that it is not the product of a random and transitory event that depends on how things go. If we see it in these terms, our well-being could be linked to inner tranquility, peace of mind, an inner sense of serenity, tranquility and certainty that fills us and gives us a pleasant satisfaction about our life.
“Happiness is internal, not external; so it doesn't depend on what we have, but on what we are "
-Henry Van Dyke-
Happiness is closely linked to finding your own way
As Jorge Bucay said, happiness can also be defined as the certainty of not feeling lost. This author, following the line of new research on personal well-being, says that being happy is closely related to knowing one's life path.
Happiness is not achieved by arriving somewhere, but by going in the right direction. It does not refer to the joy of vanity of having achieved, or being able to achieve, something in which others have failed. This makes few or no people happy. It is not true that happiness comes from these silly results which, once obtained, make us feel the need to aim for something else.
Happiness contributes and feeds on a clear mind that leads us in a specific direction. We rejoice in these challenges when the path we have chosen is in line with the values ​​we believe in, when we are sure that whatever happens we can always look at the compass and move forward, growing and experiencing new adventures. It is precisely in this emotion that happiness is recreated, grows and overwhelms us.
“[…] And then rest, nature, books, music, love of neighbor. This is my idea of ​​happiness. "
-Leo Tolstoy-
