Happiness and meaning in life

Flower garden

The examples I have in mind are ones in which there is happiness with labour and meaningfulness without sacrifice. The instances of happiness I have mentioned so far have been passive, in which a person simply “takes in” pleasurable feelings, while the cases of meaningfulness have been ones in which a person gives up much for the sake of others.

However, there are more active forms of happiness and less self-sacrificial kinds of meaning. And when these come together, those who have them often consider them to be “peak” or “ideal” ways of being, what they particularly cherish in life.

Think of working hard to cultivate a flower garden for one’s family. Or of writing poetry that is well received. Or making an intellectual discovery that influences a field. Or creating a new device that helps improve people’s lives. Or taking pride in having overcome a neurosis. Or exercising and taking note of one’s gains in fitness and athleticism. Or caring for a pet.

Or think of learning a new instrument to the point of being able to play a beautiful song. Or having conversations with one’s children about how they see the world and how they might do so in more revealing, productive ways. Or enabling a group of people to work well together. Or having sex with a beloved. Or writing a short essay for a large audience about how to live so that two fundamental human values are both realised.

I am not suggesting that nurses should quit, or that one should not eat chocolate ice cream. But if you’re like me in wanting as much happiness and meaning in your life as you can get, you’ll spend a good amount of time living in the sweet spot where they meet.

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Thaddeus Metz is Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy, University of Johannesburg

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