Happiness? What's that?

The concept of happiness has roots in psychology, science, art, spirituality and philosophy. It’s something that we all know about and even strive for but it’s definition can be elusive.

Clients who come in looking to improve their mental and emotional health will often say something along the lines of “I just want to be happy” or “my goal is to learn how to achieve happiness”, but when asked what that would look like, people are often stumped.

There’s no doubt that because happiness can be conceptualized in so many different ways that it may be hard to articulate. Is it an emotion? a feeling? a state of mind? These are the questions people have been asking since the beginning of time.

On top of that, the only certainty that comes with the concept of happiness is the subjectivity of what it means - you can ask a room of 100 people what it means to be happy and get 100 different answers.

And the answer doesn’t need to stay the same! what a person may consider happiness at one point of their life can be totally redefined at a different point of their life.

Ultimately - as people, even if we can’t articulate what exactly it means to be happy. It might serve us well to take the time to consider what this concept means to us. What are the thoughts, feelings, emotions or state of minds that help us feel the way we’re looking to feel. What can we do to get us closer to that concept?

What does happiness look like to you?