Eudaimonia is a word from ancient Greece. People like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
and others taught it in Greece.
(Where they learned it is another article.) In English, it is often misinterpreted as happiness. However, the Greeks had no obsession
with happiness. They were focused
on fulfillment. Furthermore, they
sought fulfillment through
accomplishment and living a good life. For them, eudaimonia was the state of
being you reached as a result of struggle and being stretched beyond your known
limits.
In modern day culture, happiness is not only the end result
people seek. It is the means and
the end. The quandary with that is
happiness can be self-induced. You
can literally sit in one place and accomplish nothing. To experience happiness, you can laugh
and laugh and you will experience happiness. Or you can indulge in intoxicants like drugs and alcohol to
induce the happy feeling. At the
end, your life and personal development will be exactly where it has always
been. That is analogous to eating
lots of white bread. Your stomach
is full while your body receives no nutritional value – empty calories.
In addition, happiness is sought in everything you do. There are chants that say “if it doesn’t
make you happy, don’t do it”. This
approach will cause you to chase one rainbow – job or relationship – after
another. As soon as the goal no
longer provides happiness, you are likely to quit. And you will be able to justify quitting by declaring the goal
no longer made you happy. It’s
very difficult to master anything with that approach. Besides, no one or no thing can make you happy.
On the other hand, if you were to take the Greek approach,
you would work through the discomfort of being stretched. Instead of seeking happiness, you would
seek to become more than you have ever been. With an intention to be fulfilled,
you learn to find fulfillment in struggle. That is analogous to exercising. When you run or lift weights, there comes a point in the
workout where the exercise is difficult and you feel uncomfortable. However, those are the moments you
become a little stronger or faster.
To avoid that discomfort is to avoid progress.
The state of happiness could have you remain content with status
quo. Improvement over time may
bring sufficient happiness.
Except, you would most likely never break a world record or your
personal best.
When pursuing eudaimonia as a state of mind, it is likely you are seeking mastery or a breakthrough. That is a very different mindset than being happy with the
way things are. While accepting
where you are is powerful, happiness is not the end game. Being fulfilled by realizing your full
potential is the end game.
In Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, self-actualization
is the pinnacle. That is where you
become your full potential.
Through eudaimonia, embracing the discomfort of the challenge to become
your full potential is encouraged as a significant part of the process. Without the discomfort, it may be
questioned as to whether or not you realized your full potential.
To take it a step further, when you look at a corporation,
some of the most cohesive teams are the ones who worked on a difficult project
and succeeded. During the
difficulties, people may have felt disappointed and blamed one another. When the mission was accomplished, they
were able to reflect on what worked and didn’t work. That becomes the platform to work together on subsequent
projects. Whether it’s a married
couple, sports team or business, difficult challenges can bring people together
or tear them apart. If eudaimonia
was part of their philosophy, they would more likely embrace the problem and
work through it together. That’s
living the eudaimonia life. Which
would you choose – happiness or eudaimonia?
What do you
think? I would love to hear your feedback. And I’m open to ideas. Or if you
want to write me about a specific topic, let me know.
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