My Second Pillar of Sustainability: Happiness
In my previous two posts, I described my three pillars to a meaningful life: health, happiness, and connection. They are 3 lenses that I use to evaluate everything I do in life and see whether it’s contributing positively to my life or not. Then I went into a bit more detail about how I think of health. Now it’s time to tackle happiness.
Why Happiness is Foundational to a Meaningful Life
To me, happiness is more than just a fleeting emotion; it’s core to a meaningful life. When we cultivate happiness, we feel a deeper sense of fulfillment and purpose. It allows me to approach challenges with confidence, embrace life with gratitude, and build meaningful connections with others. Without happiness, sometimes even success can feel empty. But the happier I am, the more I find even the simplest moments can be rich with meaning.
How I Try to Improve Happiness
Happiness isn’t something that just happens—it’s something I actively work on. I prioritize small daily habits – practicing gratitude and mindfulness, doing hobbies I enjoy, and trying to make the most out of every interaction with the people in my life. Of course, as mentioned in my previous post, exercise, good nutrition, and mindfulness also play a big role in my happiness. I also spend time evaluating the actions that I take and whether my values are truly being expressed in the things I do.
The Difference Between Happiness and Fun
I find it really important to differentiate between happiness and fun. Fun is often momentary and dependent on external circumstances, like riding a roller coaster or watching a movie. Happiness, on the other hand, is a deeper, more general, overall state of being. You can experience happiness even when things aren’t necessarily fun—like when working toward a long-term goal (getting farther in a piano piece I’ve been working on), helping others (volunteering or even just offering to pick something up that someone dropped), or simply appreciating life’s quiet moments. While fun can contribute to happiness, it isn’t a substitute for it.
Roller coasters are fun. But they won’t make you happy and satisfied with life. For that, you need to do a lot more work to discover your own values and see how well your life is reflecting them.
This also isn’t to say that I’m happy all the time, I don’t think of happiness as a constant state. It’s something that you have work at and sometimes it feels like I’m successful, but other times it feels like I have to try a lot harder to feel happy. More than anything, I often find that the determining factor in my moment-to-moment happiness is all in my mind: my mood and the framing with which I’m currently viewing the world. If I haven’t eaten lunch and my mood is bad, I’m going to experience everything as terrible, but if I reframe it as “I’m just going to have an 8 hour fast today!”, it can have a big impact on how my day goes.
How Happiness Shapes Your Perception of the World
Think about how happiness could affect your experience of the world! When I am happy, challenges feel more manageable. I’m more likely to see the good in people and situations. On the other hand, a lack of happiness can make even positive experiences feel dull or unimportant. Happiness isn’t about ignoring difficulties, but rather approaching them with a hopeful and constructive mindset.
How Happiness Connects to Health and Connection
I see happiness and health as being deeply intertwined. A positive outlook motivates self-care, encouraging habits like regular exercise, healthy eating, and adequate rest. When we feel good emotionally, we’re more likely to take care of our physical well-being (and vice-versa!). Similarly, happiness strengthens relationships. When I’m happy, I engage more openly with others, express gratitude, and feel the energy needed to really engage with the people I talk to and build deeper connections. Happiness fosters empathy and kindness, which in turn reinforces social bonds and a sense of belonging.
How Happiness Connects to Sustainability
You know what I find the best part of all of this to be? In my experience, a happy life is often a sustainable one. When I am content with my life, I’m less likely to chase external validation through excessive consumption of junk food, TV binging, or wasting time on my smartphone. Instead, I start to look for joy in meaningful experiences, relationships, and a deeper connection to the world around me. I end up going and spending a day at the beach, calling friends or family, or working on my garden. Happiness shifts my focus from short-term gratification, which I find to often be polluting, to long-term well-being—both personal and planetary.
Happiness is not just a goal to reach in your future; it’s a mindset that enables you to live with purpose, care for your health, strengthen your relationships, and contribute to a more sustainable world. By cultivating happiness in your daily life, you create a foundation for making a life that is more meaningful for you, and better for everyone else as well!
