It is a commonplace among moralists that you cannot get happiness by

pursuing it. This is only true if you pursue it unwisely. Gamblers at Monte
Carlo are pursuing money, and most of them lose it instead, but there are
other ways of pursuing money, which often succeed. So it is with happiness.
If you pursue it by means of drink, yo
u are forgetting the hang-oer. !picurus pursued it by liing only in congenial
society and eating only dry bread, supplemented by a little cheese on feast
days. "is method proed successful in his case, but he was a aletudinarian,
and most people would need something more igorous. #or most people, the
pursuit of happiness, unless supplemented in arious ways, is too abstract
and theoretical to be ade$uate as a personal rule of life. %ut I think that
whateer personal rule of life you may choose it should not, e&cept in rare
and heroic cases, be incompatible with happiness.

There are a great many people who hae all the material conditions of
happiness, i.e. health and a sufficient income, and who, neertheless, are
profoundly unhappy. In such cases it would seem as if the fault must lie with
a wrong theory as to how to lie. In one sense, we may say that any theory
as to how to lie is wrong. 'e imagine ourseles more different from the
animals than we are. (nimals lie on impulse, and are happy as long as
e&ternal conditions are faorable. If you hae a cat it will en)oy life if it has
food and warmth and opportunities for an occasional night on the tiles. *our
needs are more comple& than those of your cat, but they still hae their basis
in instinct. In ciili+ed societies, especially in !nglish-speaking societies, this
is too apt to be forgotten. ,eople propose to themseles some one paramount
ob)ectie, and restrain all impulses that do not minister to it. ( businessman
may be so an&ious to grow rich that to this end he sacrifices health and
priate affections. 'hen at last he has become rich, no pleasure remains to
him e&cept harrying other people by e&hortations to imitate his noble
e&ample. Many rich ladies, although nature has not endowed them with any
spontaneous pleasure in literature or art, decide to be thought cultured, and
spend boring hours learning the right thing to say about fashionable new
books that are written to gie delight, not to afford opportunities for dusty
snobbism.

If you look around at the men and women whom you can call happy, you
will see that they all hae certain things in common. The most important of
these things is an actiity which at most gradually builds up something that
you are glad to see coming into e&istence. 'omen who take an instinctie
pleasure in their children can get this kind of satisfaction out of bringing up a
family. (rtists and authors and men of science get happiness in this way if
their own work seems good to them. %ut there are many humbler forms of
the same kind of pleasure. Many men who spend their working life in the city
deote their weekends to oluntary and unremunerated toil in their gardens,
and when the spring comes, they e&perience all the )oys of haing created
beauty.

The whole sub)ect of happiness has, in my opinion, been treated too
solemnly. It had been thought that man cannot be happy without a theory of
life or a religion. ,erhaps those who hae been rendered unhappy by a bad
theory may need a better theory to help them to recoery, )ust as you may
need a tonic when you hae been ill. %ut when things are normal a man
should be healthy without a tonic and happy without a theory. It is the simple
things that really matter. If a man delights in his wife and children, has
success in work, and finds pleasure in the alternation of day and night, spring
and autumn, he will be happy whateer his philosophy may be. If, on the
other hand, he finds his wife fateful, his children-s noise unendurable, and the
office a nightmare. if in the daytime he longs for night, and at night sighs for
the light of day, then what he needs is not a new philosophy but a new
regimen----a different diet, or more e&ercise, or what not.

Man is an animal, and his happiness depends on his physiology more than
he likes to think. This is a humble conclusion, but I cannot make myself
disbeliee it. /nhappy businessmen, I am coninced, would increase their
happiness more by walking si& miles eery day than by any conceiable
change of philosophy.
Happiness, ventured William James, the noted 19th century philosopher/psychologist, is
reflected in the ratio of one's accomplishments to one's aspirations. This suggests, of
course, that when it comes to feeling happy in our lives, we can choose one of two paths
continually add to our list of accomplishments!!or lower our e"pectations.
#ince then, researchers have suggested new definitions of happiness and how we
should go a$out getting there. %n their attempt to understand and &uantify the state of
'su$(ective well!$eing' )la$!spea* for happiness+, a new ratio/&uestion has emerged
How many positive vs. negative e"periences must people have $efore they can call
themselves genuinely 'happy',
The general consensus of current research is that happiness is greatest when we
com$ine fre&uent num$ers of good e"periences with a few very intense ones. The good
e"periences may include, for e"ample, having a good, productive (o$, a caring spouse or
romantic partner, and several ho$$ies or interests that one ta*es pleasure in. -n
occasional romantic getaway wee*end, the $irth of a new child, or garnering recognition
for some personal or professional deed would satisfy the need for intense pleasures.
.et, to feel happy, our focus nevertheless needs to $e on the fre&uency, not the intensity,
of positive events in our lives. /earning how to ta*e pleasure in the littler victories,
recogni0ing their importance in our lives, and wor*ing hard to minimi0e the negatives will
accomplish more than waiting around for a $urst of intense pleasure. When we place an
overriding emphasis on the '$ig moments,' we run the ris* of disillusionment and
disappointment!!we miss out on the very things that do the scut wor* of happiness.
While there appears to $e no one route to happiness, information gathered $y
researchers from interviews with thousands of su$(ects of varying ages, economic
$ac*grounds, education level, age, se", and cultural origin suggests that there are steps
we can ta*e to improve our overall satisfaction and well!$eing. To descri$e them for you,
we sought out four top happiness researchers from across the 1nited #tates and
2anada.
We as*ed all of them the same five &uestions
1. How do you define happiness,
3. What are the $est ways to get there,
4. Who is happy...happier...happiest,
5. What doesn't lead to happiness )that we mista*enly thin* will+,
6. Has the definition of happiness changed significantly over the last few decades,
7rawing on self!report scales, longitudinal studies, and clinical interviews with thousands
of su$(ects, the following e"perts offer some practical advice on the su$tle art of feeling
good.
8astery 2ounts
John 9eich, :h.7., -ri0ona #tate 1niversity
;ased on clinical interviews and self!report measures %'ve initiated and studied, % $elieve
that happiness is $eing aware not only of the positive events that occur in your life $ut
also that you yourself are the cause of these events!!that you can create them, that you
control their occurrence, and that you play a ma(or role in the good things that happen to
you. <f course, though to a lesser degree, happiness is also the awareness that you can
prevent negative events from happening. This sense of mastery over $oth the good and
$ad events in your life contri$utes to an overall sense of well!$eing.
-s far as the $est ways to get there, % would say that attempting to cause as many
positive events as you feel capa$le of!!and $eing successful at most of them!!is the
&uic*est and most effective way to achieve happiness. =aturally, this re&uires a certain
amount of s*ill. >irst of all, and this may not $e as easy as it sounds, you need to *now
what it is that really ma*es you happy. %t pro$a$ly isn't earning a lot of money, though that
may $e true. -nd it can $e something as simple as finding a good $oo* to sailing around
the world. Whatever these 'happy triggers' are, chances are they'll $e a spectrum of
causes from the small to the huge.
#econd, once you've identified what it is that ma*es you happy, you need to *now how to
create such events. We may all en(oy spending time with our loved ones, $ut coming up
with romantic ideas has always $een a pro$lem for many couples. Third, there's
the motivation re&uired to put them into action, to actually go ahead and ma*e the
attempt!!search the $oo*stores for a good novel, call the $ed ? $rea*fast for
reservations, and so on. -nd, of course, the same criteria apply when we attempt to
avoid negativity in our lives.
The happiest people are not only a$le $ut also motivated to ma*e good things happen in
their lives!!and are somewhat successful in their endeavors. /ess motivated people are
less happy, simply put. Trying to ignore negative events, or simply forgetting a$out them
after they've occurred, will not remove their unhappy effect on your life. To the e"tent that
they are present, or their memories are, you'll still feel unhappy, or significantly less
happy than you could $e feeling.
>inally, a common error many people tend to ma*e when they thin* a$out things that
would ma*e them happier is to $elieve that simply having positive events happen in their
lives!!without utili0ing their s*ill or motivation in $ringing them a$out!!will lead to
happiness. =ot true. Winning a lottery may ma*e you happy for a short while, $ut a
random event, occurring without our input, will not create long!term happiness. We need
the sense of mastery, of control@ the feeling that something good has happened $ecause
we caused it to happen.
% don't *now whether the definition of happiness has changed in the last 6A years or so,
$ut there has $een a change in what psychologists *now a$out it. 9esearch has revealed
this heretofore un*nown aspect of happiness the need for self!involvement and control
over the events that occur in our lives, $oth good and $ad. #uch mastery, and our
awareness of it, is the *ey to genuine happiness.
>re&uency, =ot %ntensity
Bd 7iener, :h.7., 1niversity of %llinois
%t should $e noted from the outset that the ma(ority of people say they are happy. When
we e"plore what leads people to evaluate their emotional lives in a positive way, we find
that the ratio of pleasant to unpleasant emotions is a central factor. %t appears that the life
with an occasional intense positive e"perience, $ut with a moderate level of pleasant
emotional e"perience most of the time, is li*ely to lead an individual to evaluate his or her
life in a positive way.
:ut simply, fre&uent positive e"periences are $oth necessary and sufficient to produce
the state we call happiness, whereas random intense e"periences are not. Thus, what
we call happiness seems actually to $e comprised of the fre&uent positives versus the
infre&uent negatives in our lives.
%n terms of who's happy and who isn't, age and education show only small correlations
with reports of well!$eing )happiness+. 8arriage has $een a consistent positive predictor
of emotional well!$eing, with married people reporting greater well!$eing than singles.
-nd while $oth men and women score similarly in national surveys of glo$al happiness,
women also consistently report much higher levels of depression!!twice the rate of men.
%n Western cultures, women generally have more intense emotions!!$oth pleasant and
unpleasant!!than do men.
B"traversion, or outgoingness, has also $een strongly associated with happiness, along
with self!esteem and individualism. #tudies have showne"traverts to $e happier, even
when left alone, and are in fact happier than introverts whether they live alone or with
others, or wor* in social or nonsocial (o$s.
%n addition, $ehavioral genetic wor* shows that there is a si0a$le herita$ility to levels of
pleasant and unpleasant emotions. #ta$le temperaments and dispositions may $e more
powerful than environmental factors in influencing happiness levels. #ome researchers
have found a larger herita$ility for unpleasant than for pleasant emotions, which suggests
that environmental and situational factors may have a greater influence on happiness,
whereas in$orn temperament may play a greater role in unhappiness.
-s far as other factors are concerned, physical attractiveness is one of the most highly
pri0ed resources in Western cultures. .et it correlates only wea*ly with su$(ective well!
$eing. -nd intelligence shows virtually no correlation with happiness levels.
%t has also $een hypothesi0ed that a person's level of happiness is determined $y
comparisons he or she ma*es with standards. These standards may $e $ased on social
comparisons, on the particular person's aspiration level, on the person's past, or on his or
her ideals. %f people e"ceed these standards, they will $e satisfied@ $ut if they fall short of
these standards, they will e"perience unhappiness.
-ccordingly, happiness could $e increased either $y increasing one's accomplishments
or $y limiting one's aspirations.
7evelop %nterdependence
7avid C. 8eyers, :h.7., -uthor The :ursuit of Happiness Who %s Happy!!and Why
)-von@ 1994+
% view happiness as deeper than a momentary good mood!!as an enduring sense of
positive well!$eing, an ongoing perception that life is fulfilling, meaningful, and pleasant.
;ut in reporting on the mar*ings of happy lives % define happiness as whatever people
mean when they descri$e their lives as happy rather than unhappy.
-s it happens, those who say they are very happy usually seem so to others, as well.
They smile and laugh readily during interviews. >riends and family mem$ers typically
agree with their self!description.
<ne could write a whole $oo* on new research!$ased guides to happier living
)and % have+. These include
-ct happy. Tal* and act as if you have the traits and attitudes of a happy person,
and you may gain them. Coing through the motions can trigger the emotions.
#ee* wor* and leisure that engage your s*ills. Happy people are often a$sor$ed
in tas*s they find challenging $ut not overwhelming.
B"ercise. -n avalanche of recent studies reveals that aero$ic e"ercise is a
powerful antidote for depression and an"iety.
Cive priority to close relationships. The mutual support and self!disclosure in
committed relationships are another antidote to misery. %f you are married,
resolve to nurture your relationship, to not ta*e your partner for granted, to
display to your spouse the sort of *indness that you display to others, to play and
share together.
Ta*e care of the soul. -ctively religious people tend to report more happiness and
to cope $etter with crises. >aith provides a support community, a sense of life's
meaning, a reason to focus $eyond self, and a timeless perspective on life's
temporary ups and downs.
%n addition, studies show that the happiest people often have
fit and healthy $odies
realistic goals and e"pectations
positive self!esteem
feelings of control
optimism
outgoingness
supportive relationships that allow companionship and confiding
challenging wor* and active leisure, punctuated $y sufficient rest and retreat
a faith that entails communal support, purpose, self!acceptance, outward focus,
and hope
<ne thing that people today $elieve leads to happiness is money. -lthough only a few
would agree that money can literally $uy happiness, many people feel that a little more
money would ma*e them happier.
/oo* what's happened to the values of entering college students. The percentage who
say it's 'very important' that they '$ecome very well!off financially' has nearly dou$led
since 19DA, from 5A to D6 percent. That topped the list of 19 aspirations, surpassing
'raising a family' and 'helping others in difficulty.' %t's the new -merican dream life,
li$erty, and the purchase of happiness.
;ut does wealth produce well!$eing, Have people in rich countries )such as West
Cermany during the 19EAs+ $een consistently happier than fol*s in not!so!rich countries
)such as %reland+, -re people with high incomes, including those who've won lotteries or
$een listed among the 1AA richest -mericans, happier than fol*s with middle incomes,
Have we $ecome happier as a people than*s to our dou$led real incomes since the mid!
fifties,
The answers are no, no, no, and no. Wealth is li*e health. %ts utter a$sence can ma*e
you misera$le. ;ut once your real needs are met, having more provides diminishing
emotional dividends. - $oost in income or possessions can ma*e us happy temporarily.
;ut soon we adapt, and $egin lusting for a $igger fi".
2ompared to 19FA, the -merica of today has dou$led spending power )than*s partly to
the great increase in women's employment+. We also have twice as many cars per
person, color TGs, G29s, microwaves, answering machines, computers, and H13 $illion
a year worth of $rand!name athletic shoes.
;ut what has this economic growth meant for morale, <ver the same period, depression
rates have soared. Teen suicide has tripled. 7ivorcerates have dou$led. The percentage
of children $orn to single parentshas se"tupled )pun intended+. The violent crime rate has
$oomed. #urely -l Core was correct when he wrote that 'the accumulation of material
goods is at an all!time high, $ut so is the num$er of people who feel an emptiness in their
lives.'
We've not only come to place greater emphasis on money and possessions, $ut also on
the pursuit of individual self!reali0ation. The pop psychology of our age urges us to 'get in
touch with yourself. -ccept yourself. ;e true to yourself. -ssert your individual rights.'
2arl 9ogers e"pressed our individualism 'The only &uestion which matters is, '-m %
living in a way which...truly e"presses me,''
;ut as we finish this millennium, one hears voices, including many feminists and those
familiar with -sian and Third World countries, saying that the current definition of
happiness is not only too materialistic $ut also too individualistic. %t's good to accept
ourselves. ;ut it's also good to value close relationships, to $e sensitive and responsive
to others, to give and receive support. To $e interdependent, not (ust independent.
-nd it's good!!as the new communitarian movement insists!!to $alance our cele$ration of
individual rights with a parallel concern for social responsi$ilities and well!$eing. We need
to define a ground $etween 'me!thin*ing' and 'we!thin*ing.'
- :ortfolio
-le" 2. 8ichalos, :h.7., 1niversity of Cuelph, <ntario
% define happiness as a relatively long!lasting, positive feeling and attitude. >rom my
research, the $est way to get there is to have a portfolio of desires and interests!!some
short!range goals and some long!range goals. The short ones so that you can get small
pleasures on a fairly routine $asis with relatively low cost, and the longer ones so that
you have something to loo* forward to and to go after in life.
#hort!run pleasures, for instance, might include music. %n my case, % li*e 8otown music,
and % have some records and tapes around that % li*e to listen to. >or longer!term
pleasure, %'m a feminist, so % wor* in little ways for the achievement of e&ual opportunity
for women.
%t's very important to *eep this portfolio going, not to let these interests die out in light of
other aspects of your life, such as wor* They must also $e realistic!!an interest in music
is one thing@ dreaming of $ecoming a roc* star will not li*ely land you to happiness unless
you're one in a million. When people get a good assessment of what is possi$le and want
those things that are ultimately achieva$le!!and then $egin to close the gap $etween the
two!!they find ultimate happiness.
% conducted a survey of 1E,AAA undergraduates in 49 countries and found that married
students, particularly married women, were the happiest. #econd happiest were married
males, third were unmarried females, and the least happy of the lot were unmarried
males. The most important factor in happiness is good interpersonal relations!!with
friends, family, lovers, etc. They contri$ute the $iggest $ang in terms of happiness, and
are much more important than income, for instance, or loo*s. =e"t to relations, self!
esteem is also important, as is physical health.
2ontrary to popular opinion, there is only a somewhat modest correlation $etween
income and happiness, $ut it is much less so than people imagine. 8aterial items are
also way overrated. ;ut one of the most remar*a$le things, % thin*, is that the definition,
in my mind, of happiness hasn't changed much. :eople have always needed a portfolio
of interests in their lives. -nd if you loo* at the descriptions of what ma*es people happy,
they've remained incredi$ly similar over the years healthy $odies, good, productive (o$s,
love, family, friends. -nd, on the internal side, contentment, piece of mind, satisfaction.
There really has $een ama0ing sta$ility of the idea of happiness across time. We still
$elieve, for instance, in the social!comparison hypothesis!!the idea that happiness is a
function of the perceived gap $etween what we have and what we thin* others have. -nd
the original concept goes all the way $ac* to -ristotle.
9emem$er that the ';ig ;ang' achievements are not as important, in terms of life
satisfaction, as the sum total of all the little moments. We need to cultivate an
appreciation for the little things in life. ;eing a$le to recogni0e the everyday pleasures is
every $it as vital as achieving new ones.
%n this sense, happy people tend to $e more active. They're not 'contented cows.' When
you have enormous resources in terms of internal good feeling a$out yourself, you have
an inner sense of $uoyancy and are $etter a$le to thin* a$out doing things to ma*e
yourself happier. .ou tend not to sit $ac* and $e content, $ut identify and achieve what
ma*es you happy.
Bvery day, it seems, there's more and more research coming out a$out happiness.
So Really: What is Happiness?
%t's confusing. >irst there are all the studies saying it's all in your genes and in the
hardwiring of your$rain. .ou can't really control it. Bither you're happy or you're not. The
$ottom line of this line of thin*ing is #ome fol*s are (ust happier $y virtue of who they
are. They come out that way. <ptimists. :eople who see the silver linings. The sun'll
come out, *inds of people. #omething a$out the way their $rains wor* ma*es
them resilient, forgiving, patient, hopeful.
I get depressed just thinking about them.
-nd then there's the school of thought that argues happiness can $e learned. .ou can
choose to live a happy life. .ou can will yourself to thin* happy, hopeful thoughts. There
are &uotes on happiness, poems, mantras, affirmations you can say to train yourself into
happiness. .ou can re!train your negative!minded mind to turn that frown upside down.
.ou can change your thoughts, rewrite your unhappy internal scripts, find the good.
Happiness on/in the Brain?
%'ve got happiness on the $rain $ecause in an attempt to avoid grading papers %
somehow stum$led onto a Happiness Test, and since % cannot resist a challenge li*e that,
% too* it.
-nd % failed. >ailed misera$ly.
7on't laugh. .ou ta*e it. Co ahead. Ta*e the True Happiness Test. Ta*e it and come
$ac*. %'ll wait.
How'd you do, % won't laugh, % promise. Class houses over here.
)% shouldn't have admitted to the occasional nap. 8ay$e that was it.+ -nyway, for
whatever reason, % failed the test of $eing happy. -fter % got my 'grade' they gave me
'personali0ed recommendations,' so % could get happy.
My nhappy Results:
'.ou scored relatively low in $oth remem$ered and e"perienced happiness. .ou might
not feel very successful lately, $ut that doesn't mean you don't already have the tools and
potential to $e happy. Ta*e the initiative to ma*e some changes to your living space, and
spend some time on activities that interest you and *eep you $usy. Ieep reminding
yourself of your accomplishments as you go, and soon you'll $e more optimistic and
ready to thrive.'
!nd then they o""ered the "ollo#ing $ Steps %o Happiness:
Step &: 'ind a (artner
9eally, That's their first recommendation, That's the $est they've got, % (ust need a
$oyfriend, :uhlee0. %'m getting suspicious that my 8om's $ehind this &ui0.
Tip ':eople in a long!term, loving, and committed relationship are three times more li*ely
to $e happy than divorced, single, or widowed people.'
Step ): Sleep *+, hours
#eriously, 7oes any wor*ing mother you *now sleep D!9 hours, 2an you frea*in'
imagine =%=B H<19# <> -=.TH%=C,,,
Tip '9esearch from psychologists shows that you need D.6 ! 9 hours of sleep a day to
ma"imi0e your well!$eing. Cetting fewer than F hours a night can ma*e you 4AJ less
happy than you could $e. <ptimi0e your $edroom for sleeping $y relieving it of clutter,
lowering the thermostat to F3 degrees, eliminating all light sources, and $anning all TG or
computer screens.'
KKK%'m fascinated. How on earth did they &uantify that less sleep ma*es you 4AJ less
happy,
Step -: Make %ime to Meditate
=ot to $e negative, $ut my $rain is too wild to $e tamed. %'ve tried every form of mediation
there is. 8y $rain is so wild, %'ve $een in yoga studios where a whole class is meditating
and my $rain is so, what is the word, resistant, that it sends out distracting signals to all
the other $rains in the silent room and every$ody in the class frea*s out and runs out
screaming. True story.
Tip '9egular meditation has $een shown to activate areas of the $rain that register
pleasure and to inhi$it parts of the $rain that register pain. Bsta$lishing a dimly lit, &uiet
space where you can sit comforta$ly will ma*e daily mediation, even if it's (ust as simple
as counting $reaths, more accessi$le.'
Step .: Spend Smarter
Tal*ing a$out money totally stresses me out. /01%2
Tip ':eople who avoid de$t are happier than those with $ills hanging over their heads.
-void stress $y using cash instead of credit cards whenever possi$le, and enroll in an
automatic savings or investment plan for long!term, worry!free happiness.'
Step $: Hang 3ut #ith Happy (eople
% love this one. % now have to share the sad news with all of my sharp!tongued, wit!
infused, gigantic!hearted, cran*y friends that despite 4A years of loyal, devoted and, %
might add, hilarious times together, % must drop them immediately $ecause apparently
they are not happy enough and are $ringing me down.
Tip '2ertain moods and $ehaviors are contagious. Ieeping this in mind, consider how
positive or negative the people you spend the most time with are. %f you can't thin* of a
friend with positive attri$utes, then it's time to widen your social circle.'
/uc*ily, if % dump all my friends, %'ll have a lot more time to find a $oyfriend, sleep,
mediate and $alance my chec*$oo*. Wait a minute. 7id % (ust find the silver lining, 7id %
(ust loo* on the $right side, /oo*s li*e it's wor*ing already
Happy %s as Happy 7oes
Happiness is not the same thing as the pursuit of happiness.
:u$lished on 8arch 9, 3A15 $y Howard #. >riedman, :h.7. in #ecrets of /ongevity
When Thomas Jefferson wrote the 7eclaration of %ndependence for the 1nited #tates, he
proclaimed the unaliena$le rights to life, li$erty, and the pursuit of happiness. He did not
guarantee happiness to the citi0ens, nor did he mean to hold happiness as one of the
greatest values. %t was not Happinessthat was classed with and valued as much
as 4i"e and 4iberty. 9ather the Lpursuit o" happinessM was *ey. 8odern psychological
research provides a deeper understanding of what Jefferson intuited.
Jefferson lived a long, healthy life and died at age E4 on the >ourth of July, 1E3F, which
was the 6Ath anniversary of the 7eclaration of %ndependence. 2learly, -merican li$erty
was on his mind until the very end. 2ontrary to what most people thin*, it was not
unusual for a successful -merican to live into his EAs, even way $ac* in the 1Eth century.
The average life e"pectancy was much lower, $ut that was $ecause so many individuals
died in infancy and childhood. Jefferson always stayed physically active and involved
with his community, $ut he also had a special wisdom.
8r. Jefferson had a mind!$oggling num$er of successful careers and accomplishments,
from farmer to architect to minister to governor to :resident. <f course there were many,
many failures and defeats along the way, $ut nothing stopped his persistence. >or
e"ample, he designed, $uilt and then continually remodeled his mansion, 8onticello. We
all *now how stressful house renovations can $e. %s this pu00ling,
He fought political $attles for decades, as congressional delegate, governor, vice!
president, secretary of state, president and more. 7id he ever slow down and rest, having
finally achieved happiness, =o. %n his DAs he founded )and designed+ the 1niversity of
Girginia. Today such a person might $e disparaged as a wor*aholic.
Why wasnNt Jefferson stressed out and sic*, -fter all, in addition to the huge challenges
of his wor* life, his personal life was full of trials and tri$ulations. His wife died at age 44.
>our of their si" children died during childhood. His was often in de$t, struggling with his
finances. -ll these things are today recogni0ed as ma(or life stressors. .et he wasn't
depressed and he wasn't ill. 2ould it really $e that Jefferson was happy and thriving,
even without any trips to 7isneyland, a 8aserati, or a $each house with water s*is,
2ertainly. He thrived $ecause he *new that thepursuit of happiness is not the same as
the accumulation of happiness.
7o0ens of studies now confirm that accumulating great wealth, avoiding failure, and
ta*ing it easy are not the secrets to happiness and health. Jefferson succeeded and
failed, loved and lost, $ut never stopped $uilding, inventing, and learning. 8y own
research wor* on the E!decade/ongevity :ro(ect confirms this. Those individuals who
sought new challenges thrived, $ut those who were irresponsi$le or la0y tended to falter.
Crowing, developing, maturing are the twins of happiness.
Strive to be happy is what the pursuit of happiness really means. =ot Lbe happy.M ;e
careful what you wish for. '7on't worry, ;e happy' is rotten advice. %t is all in the striving
and doing.
%f you are interested, The /ongevity :ro(ect, which e"plains the long!term pathways to
thriving, was pu$lished in paper$ac* edition $y :lume
)seehttp//www.howardsfriedman.com/longevitypro(ect/ + and is also availa$le on Iindle
and =oo*. The $oo* also contains self!assessment &ui00es to help you figure your
current tra(ectory