The Pursuit of Happiness movie, starring Will Smith was an eye opener for me in an interesting way. Overall, the movie portrays happiness as something that requires relentless pursuit and unwavering determination in the face of adversity.
This is the good aspect - it shows how resilience and persistence can help overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The protagonist's journey reminded me that rock bottom can become a solid foundation to build upon.
And the not so good aspect for me was after watching it a few times, I started questioning whether happiness should be something we chase at all.
The movie's narrative is definitely inspiring, but in a rather subtle way reinforces this modern obsession with happiness as life's ultimate goal, as if being happy is the only measure of a life well-lived.
Thousands of years ago, the ancient Greeks shared a more applicable vision of human flourishing – a concept they called eudaimonia, which could be defined as the art of living well and realizing one's full human potential.
Unlike our modern fixation on positive emotions and life satisfaction, eudaimonia proposes that true well-being emerges from a life lived in accordance with excellence and virtue.
I know, excellence and virtue are seen as really high standards that seem unattainable or too much of a hassle to develop.
But on a basic level, both act as a vehicle toward a deeper fulfillment that comes from living authentically and with purpose.
Developing Core Abilities
At its core, eudaimonia rests on three fundamental pillars: virtue and excellence (arete), purpose and function (ergon), and self-sufficiency (autarkeia).
The first pillar, arete, speaks to the cultivation of excellence in all aspects of life. I'm guessing here that the Greeks understood that virtue isn't merely a moral quality.
On a higher level, it's the expression of human excellence in whatever we undertake. Whether in our work, relationships, or personal development, arete calls us to strive for the highest standards we can achieve and this excellence isn't measured against others but against our own potential.
Ergon as the second pillar addresses our distinctive human function or purpose. The Greeks believed that what sets humans apart is our capacity for rational thought and ethical behavior.
Living well, therefore, means engaging these uniquely human capabilities to their fullest extent. I see it more as being an active player in the game of life, living deliberately and thoughtfully rather than merely existing.
The third pillar, autarkeia, points to a form of self-sufficiency that I think feels particularly relevant in our age of external validation and constant connectivity.
Because we have this almost pre-conceived idea that self-worth comes from external validation(e.g likes on social media, professional titles, or material possessions).
So, we're more or less constantly seeking approval from outside ourselves, making us increasingly dependent on factors beyond our control.
Isolation or complete independence isn't the solution either. Of course, humans are social beings and the Greeks well understood that. There's a blurry line between interdependence and codependency.
Who wouldn't want to have an ability that allows you to engage with the world from a place of strength rather than need?
Feeling Good Versus Being Good
Together, these fundamental pillars create a picture of well-being that stands in stark contrast to our modern pursuit of happiness.
For one, contemporary culture emphasizes feeling good, a state that's notoriously fleeting and dependent on circumstances outside our control.
Eudaimonia emphasizes being good, not in a narrowly moralistic sense, but in the broader sense of excellence, purpose, and self-sufficiency.
In terms of well-being, I think we often conflate it with happiness when they're actually distinct experiences.
Hppiness is an emotion that comes and goes, well-being is more like a steady undercurrent that can be developed and maintained through both joy and hardship.
I personally experienced a state of well-being that necessarily doesn't bring any form of happiness.
In a way, the good life isn't about feeling good all the time. To engage fully with life's entire spectrum of experiences - the triumphs and failures, the joys and sorrows, the ease and the struggle - is what a good life is about.
And the sooner we move beyond the superficial pursuit of happiness, the better we become at focusing our energy on developing our character, discovering our purpose, and building internal resources that can weather life's storms.
In doing so, it points the way toward a form of flourishing that could just be what we're really seeking when we say "I want to be happy!"
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