Happiness as a term has been around for thousands of years and has had many interpretations and definitions throughout history, as well as a variety of different types of pursuits. Most people think of happiness as pleasurable experiences and pleasant moments of the happy-go-lucky nature, but recent scientific evidence has shown that this is only one form of happiness, the hedonic kind which is momentous and contingent on external stimuli.
Hedonic stems from the Greek “ηδονή” which means ultimate pleasure. The other kind of happiness, the long-term kind, which is about a deeper fulfilment with life as a whole, is called the eudaimonic type, stemming from the Greek «ευδαιμονία»- the ancient Greek word for happiness. Aristotle coined the term from the word “daimon” as in spirit and refers here to the soul, our immaterial quality.
And as such, this form of happiness, research has shown, can be sustained through internal processes rather than the external stimuli responsible for the hedonic state. Mindfulness practice has been proven to directly affect these internal processes in brain function, by helping to better regulate negative emotional experiences, while promoting a more balancing neurological operation.
Harvard’s Happiness Study, the longest ever scientific study conducted on the topic of human development, brings data across multiple decades on what makes people happy. The study examined the lives of different people across class, age, race, economic standing, sex, occupation, spanning throughout eighty years and included from soldiers and housewives, to miners and one US president.
The study revealed that the key to happiness is strong relationships of any kind; high quality relationships do not only provide life satisfaction and fulfillment, but also help with a healthier and longer life expectancy. In addition, the study revealed that the people most satisfied with their lives were those who instead of focusing on themselves, were more interested in offering service to the world. [1]
Therefore sustainable happiness - and the answer to a question a thousands years old - results not from preoccupation with the self and by pursuing external stimuli, but rather as a product of successful social relations. As clear and simple this may sound, it isn’t easy to achieve, which is why relational mindfulness, the social form of mindfulness otherwise known as emotional hygiene, becomes a critical practice.
As happiness scholar Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar has characteristically noted, “isn’t it incredible that how the most important component in people’s lives, how to build and maintain successful relationships, is not found in any form of learning platform, but rather expected of us to figure it out on our own?” Could you imagine the type of societies we could encounter if relational mindfulness would be taught from early on in life?
[1] This study has now been published into a book called The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness, by Dr. Marc Schulz and Dr. Robert Waldinger, 2023, Simon & Schuster
“Many people think excitement is happiness.... But when you are excited you are not peaceful. True happiness is based on peace.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh
Photo credits, from top to bottom: Ben Gao, Kamesh, Andrew Bui, Liz Sanchez, Raimond Klavins, Marcos Paulo Prado, Petr Sidorov