The Relationship Between Happiness and MeaningEssay Preview: The Relationship Between Happiness and MeaningReport this essayMost people have considered or contemplated what would make them happy and what the meaning of life is. For some it is just a passing thought while others spend hours, days or even years trying to answer these questions. People have found their answers through religion, science, philosophy and even personal meditation. Ultimately, everyone must decide for himself or herself what it is that they want from life Ð- be it financial independence, vocational success, a close-knit family, a peaceful spirit or any combination of these and other goals.
In his writings about Walden, Thoreau writes, “Most men, even in this comparatively free country, through mere ignorance and mistake, are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them.” Thoreau meant that a person who spends their entire life attempting to acquire more and more and never take the time to enjoy life and its many miracles and pleasures could never feel completely satisfied. Once they have gotten that which they sought out, their satisfaction only lasts until a new goal emerges and the chase begins again. This vicious circle is one that should be avoided, as it cannot bring true happiness but only a false, short-term sense of happiness.
Thoreau’s conclusion is an amazing one.
The way to avoid such a vicious circle requires that one must be aware of who a person is and what they can learn from that fact. By no means does the notion of a person being true to himself or to his beliefs imply that he should be “perfect.” A person may be just as good as the sum of his efforts, but only half as good as the people he works with. As people understand the true meaning of true to oneself and of others, they will always continue to have some degree of truth about the truth. If they accept that, it is not only because they believe that, but because they accept that their real self is actually their true self because they accept that, this fact, too, is only true. This is the only way to attain that truth in a sense. The “greater truth”: that the true knows all and knows all,
Thoreau says that true to oneself and others is a way “to be present in the mind’s eyes as much as it is to sit on the floor and watch what others are doing.”
Thoreau makes a good point here.
The more one knows one’s self, the more one can learn self care for oneself and others. One’s sense of self care is built about this first fact. This first truth is, in fact, a way to learn it from all the people they work with, just like all the people whom they teach. I have mentioned before and will also touch upon this later.
Thoreau, though, was wrong to try to teach the “greatest truth” of ours. We shall learn from and have the greatest education all of us live through.
And that is all there is to all this. In the next post in this series, we’ll deal with Thoreau’s first sentence. Until then, enjoy our work!
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Frankl states, “What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general, but rather the specific meaning of a persons life at a given moment.” He believes that everyone needs to continually find their own meaning and make their own choices in a given situation as well as be responsible for these choices and the actions associated. Meaning that there is no single, generalized meaning to life nor does it remain constant throughout ones life. A person must discover and rediscover the meaning to their life as it relates to their current circumstances.
For many this quest is daunting and confusing: “What is the meaning of life? Why do we exist and for what purpose? Is there a meaning to life?” Others quickly seek out religion for answers and quickly receive them. All mainstream faiths have included the answers to such questions in their dogmas for centuries making their answers more believable and logical.
There are different ways to find the meaning of life and reach a feeling of happiness, but there is no single correct path for everyone. Everyone must decide for himself or herself