Hedonia vs Eudaimonia

Wow a coupla big words but what the heck do they mean?  They both can bring happiness but in very different ways.  Hedonia can bring fleeting happiness in  the present moment like buying that new sweater but it's always self-serving and brief.  This, I think, is what our forefathers were thinking when they gave us the inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness.  In this way, we are always looking for or pursuing happiness because the moments must be repeated in order for the happiness feelings to remain.

Eudaimonia on the other hand is longer lasting.  It is a form of happiness according to Shelley Levitt (2013)  that "is centered on fulfilling our potential; it's driven by virtue and a higher purpose:  service to others,"  (p. 41).  This, then is a much deeper form of happiness.  When we make others happy, we can't help but achieve a level of happiness in our own hearts.  If this weren't the case, there would be no volunteers, no good deeders, no helping an elderly person across the street.

But what of our purpose?  We've talked about purpose and finding meaning.  We find meaning in our days and therefore purpose in our lives. Purpose is the bigger picture made up of all the little meaningful things we do every day.  Smiling to a stranger on the street, holding the door open for a mother struggling with a stroller, or any other of the multitudes of little things we do all the time that we don't even think about.

So to pursuit happiness, stop looking for the next big thing to bring you happiness because they're will always need to be something else to fill you up.  Decide to take yourself off the hedonic treadmill that is this life and look towards other things that can help another.  This reminds me of a poem I wrote several decades ago (it's the only one I've ever written):

As you go thru life wondering

take a step beyond

where the sidewalk ends

for it is there you will find your dream

Levitt, S. (2013).  The New Pursuit of Happiness.  Live Happy,1, 38-45.