Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Can you be happy?

 


 

 THIS NOTE DID NOT CLOSED YET

 

Happiness is often considered the most common goal in human life. Some connect Happiness with financial success, while other link it to good health. However, the same did not mentioned the meaning of the happiness in isolation from linking it to other things, without make this happiness thing in various forms, even when we say "I am happy", it is look appears to represent a singular state, regardless of its diverse source. To answer the question, "Can you be happy?" we must first try to define the happiness and what it truly means.

I like to start by an idea from the ancient Greek philosopher and polymath Aristotle (382-322 BC), he said: "Our proper goal in life was eudaimonia". which eudaimonia can translate to English as "Flousrishing" or "Happiness", So Aristorle through that our proper goal in the life is Flousrishing, which also means Happiness, so to be happy in Aristotle through, you should flourish, and to flourish, you need to realize your Areté, which translated to virtues, which means "the best possibility in your nature".  

So Aristotle means that your goal in the life is Happiness, and to make this you need to achieve the best possibility in your nature, but to achieve your best possibilities you need to know your self  (here I do not want to go deeper to self, which is so much complicated topic). So Happiness is to achieve the best possibility in your nature/self .

Aristotle's idea is not only shape my perspective today, but also introduce a clear problem to what we say "our self happiness", because if the societies can implement your nature by implement our limitations, our boundaries, then they can effect our possibilities, then they can define your Happiness!  This is good point I found I will keep it here open as different thinking about "Can you be happy?", what if you can not be happy because your happiness defined to be impossible, because our societies define the happiness in the harder and the complex way!

So from Aristotle's view, we can say that the happiness can reach it indirectly by doing the right things to be best self, by form your character via habits. 

For example, if you try to work each month in three things your're grateful and make it as habit in your daily life. This habit can make you focus on the positive aspects of your life, then increase your character, then you will be best self, then you will be more happy.

 But but but ... there is also a different perspective from the Nihilisitic philosophy. What if the concept of happiness itself is in question, or what if there is no inherent meaning in striving to become the best version of oneself? ... so it is also good to define why you want to be the best version of yourself! if you want to be happy (or if you want to be the best version of yourself).

Building on Aristotle's idea, we can conclude that that we have at least one valuable insight about happiness, then we can answer our question based to this idea.

Can you be happy? perhaps, yes ... because you can work to be the best version of yourself, but you should try also to eliminate of the limitations and boundaries, because these things can effect indirectly your happiness ... but in the sometime do not put yourself in illogical maximum capabilities to do not fall into the endless pit of misery of high aspirations (misery loop expectations). 

From my short experience in this life, I created one rule to improve my happiness (to be the best version of myself), which give me a good view of the progress of what I am doing to improve myself without compare myself to other, this rule is "I should be today best than yesterday, even by small idea I learn, even by small help I give".


Version: 1.0


Sources: 

About eudaimonia: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/eudaimonia

 

 

Share: