The cognitive scientist Laurie Santos says "we're fighting cultural forces that are telling us, 'You're not happy enough.'"
Since the Yale cognitive scientist Laurie Santos began teaching her class Psychology and the Good Life in 2018, it has become one of the school's most popular courses. The first year the class was offered, nearly a quarter of the undergraduate student body enrolled. You could see that as a positive: all these young high-achievers looking to learn scientifically corroborated techniques for living a happier life. But you could also see something melancholy in the course's popularity: all these young high-achievers looking for something they've lost, or never found. Either way, the desire to lead a more fulfilled life is hardly limited to young Ivy Leaguers, and Santos turned her course into a popular podcast series "The Happiness Lab," which quickly rose above the crowded happiness-advice field. (It has been downloaded more than 64 million times.) "Why are there so many happiness books and other happiness stuff and people are still not happy?" asks Santos, who is 46. "Because it takes work! Because it's hard!" (continues)
"So what’s the answer? What’s the purpose of life? It’s smelling your coffee in the morning. [Laughs.] Loving your kids. Having sex and daisies and springtime. It’s all the good things in life. That’s what it is." Don't forget to read, walk, be kind etc.https://t.co/xQvmvTWCMC
— Phil Oliver (@OSOPHER) February 21, 2022
I do believe it to be a good combination of all the above. A balance if you will, of all of those things, that make us feel good. Mindfulness is like a balance within us. Happiness, I feel, as I said (in agreement to what you wrote above,) is the balance (of our unique versions) of the different aspects that make up our (individually unique) version of happiness. I believe that even going back to earlier philosophical writings such as Aristotle, we will find a lot of discussion around the word balance. Being an accounting major, of course, I myself am a big fan of balance. I feel that it is very relevant in many aspects of life not just in terms of balancing the books of a company, but also in the fact that we all use it within our daily lives; to keep track of the bills that we have to pay, or what we need to do for work or school, and what we need to do for our children (making doctor's appointments/ running them to practice, etc.) I myself, find that a good combination of external balance, can help you create a better internal balance (whether we're talking about life satisfaction, success and failure, or even happiness.)
ReplyDeleteI also think happiness is a balance of all those factors mentioned above. But I personally think to truly have peace and happiness in our own lives it can't be something that based on external factors. We are all bogged down by different things in our lives, so we have to learn how to be happy with ourselves and our station in life. But I also think it's important to strive to take care of ourselves and seek the things in life that give us fulfillment and joy, but at the end of the day happiness in itself is fleeting. True happiness can only come from the inside.
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