"There has long been a debate about whether happiness is a fleeting, almost chemical spark that comes and goes without warning, or whether a more enduring version of happiness can settle into something like a steady state. Philosophers, psychologists, and everyone in between have tried to moderate this debate with different terminology-contentment, joy, life satisfaction, hedonia, eudaimonia, and so on."
"Happiness, Defined (Finally) I believe happiness is the result of two specific components: meaning and purpose. Although people often use these words interchangeably, they describe two very different experiences. Meaning is our cognitive relationship with the past: the stories we tell ourselves about who we are and how we got here. Happy people tend to tell themselves what I think of as hero stories: narratives in which they faced hardship yet overcame it, growing into someone capable, resilient, and "enough.""
Happiness arises from two components: meaning and purpose. Meaning is the cognitive relationship to the past expressed as stories about personal history; heroic narratives view hardship as growth while victim narratives constrain resilience. Purpose is enacted in present activities that energize and engage, increasing the likelihood of entering flow and experiencing momentary joy. Flow describes fleeting, high-engagement states that produce intense happiness but do not by themselves create a lasting baseline. Repeating meaningful reinterpretations of the past combined with regularly pursued purpose-driven actions increases frequency of flow experiences and gradually elevates the long-term happiness set point.
Read at Psychology Today
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