Making up Happiness

After extensive research, I have found out that there are three main components that go into happiness. However, this may not be true for everyone, but not everyone knows exactly what makes them happy. The three main components are pleasure, engagement and meaning. There is a reason for the placement of these ideas on the triangle, which I will cover momentarily.

First, we deal with pleasure. This may be the most basic word for an idea like this. When I say pleasure, the immediate response is something relaxing. A vacation perhaps, or a good book, can be considered as pleasurable. There is a deeper meaning to this though. Jess Whittlestone , a writer for a research blog, writes, “The pursuit of pleasure has been endorsed since the doctrine of hedonism was first articulated and then used to lay the foundations of utilitarianism”. This is a deep thought. Lets break down this quote. Utilitarianism is the idea of having a beneficial outcome from the works of a group of people or an individual. Further examination points out that pleasure is an idea used to lay down the “bedrock” for a positive outcome. In other words, pleasure is used to help people to find happiness, but this does not mean that it is the most important building block for happiness. There is yet another concept that can explain happiness.

 
Engagement. It is something that most people do on a daily basis. An athlete or business worker can easily become occupied in engagement. It is the activity of someone that is completely immersed in his work. In an earlier post, I talked about flow. Flow and engagement are directly related through a person’s ideas and actions. This is on the triangle of happiness because people need it. Without any engagement in an activity or without any flow, there is really not a good meaning in life. To become immersed in something means to really care about it, whether is helps yourself or a whole bunch of people.

Lastly, the foundation of happiness is MEANING. What is life with no meaning? Can’t answer that? That is because meaning is the solid foundation base of life and the pursuit of happiness. It’s the base of the triangle of happiness. Certain jobs create meaning for people. Jobs which help others should tend to be more satisfying, and produce longer-lasting satisfaction than those based on purely selfish principles. These jobs create meaning in people’s lives. It is not only jobs that can create meaning.  Doing small kind things on your everyday routine creates meaning. The things that have meaning are the things that move people into the state of being happy.