What is "Success" REALLY, in Life? Does it Make Us Happy?

in #success7 years ago

Starting off today's post with a quote; a long-time favorite from His Holiness the Dalai Lama:

"The Purpose of our lives is to be Happy"

Sunset
Looking for the light...

In this fast paced and stressful world where people so often are running around looking for "something" to fill their lives yet often remain unhappy, those words have always felt rather poignant.

What is interesting is that Greek philosopher Aristotle came to much the same conclusion, some 2300 years ago.

These days, many people would insist that the "purpose" of their lives is to become successful; to become rich; to become famous; to become powerful.

Birds
(graphic is our own)

But why pursue these things? What do we believe we will have, when we go after success, fame and power? Chances are, that when we look beneath everything, we are ultimately trying to find some measure of happiness, of contentment. 

Given how many people these days seek medical help and end up on antidepressants, it seems we're not doing to so well on our quests.

Which begs the question: Are we actually pursuing the wrong things? Moreover, are our perceptions of what we believe will bring us happiness out of touch with reality? Are we actually pursuing fake realities portrayed by the media and Hollywood, rather than our own inner wisdom?

For today's exercise, I invite you to pause and consider the moments and times in your life that brought you the deepest and most sincere happiness. What were those things? What marked those times? Why did they make you feel so happy? 

Once you've identified these moments, consider whether your pursuits, ambitions and efforts today are in alignment with creating similar experiences of happiness? Or are you off in a completely different direction?

There are no "right" or "wrong" answers here — this is merely an invitation to "take inventory" of where you are and where you think you're going.

If you'd like to share your thoughts in the comment section, you're certainly welcome!

Bright Blessings!

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You are not alone!
(Graphic is our own)

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Yes, we all should do more of what makes us happy. Some people have not yet realized the need to do this.

Am always happy to see posts like this. :)

And part of the secret is knowing ourselves well enough to understand just what makes us happy.

Blessings!

Thank you for writing this post. It has let me take a moment and think of how lucky I am to be blessed with moments of true happiness in my life so far. I hope you have a lovely day :)

It is good to pause and be grateful for the little things we have!

Bright Blessings!

Throughout my entire life, what made me the happiest was following my heart no matter where it lead me. I still do that moment to moment today.

And what a beautiful thing that is! Thanks you for sharing that, and for being a life example of the idea that "the best things in life are not THINGS."

Bright Blessings!

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