A deep sense of fulfillment > temporary pleasurable feelings.
“Happiness isn’t the goal.
Happiness is easy.
Go on vacation or buy a jet ski. Weee. Happiness.
Happiness is a temporary state.
Fulfillment is the goal.
But people don’t talk about fulfillment because it’s harder.
It requires acting on a deep sense of purpose.”
-Ray Zingler on X
Happiness, like sadness, is a temporary state.
You want happiness?
Shield yourself from reality, go to the beach, sit in the sand for 7 days, buy overpriced drinks at a tiki bar, take a few pictures for Instagram, try to convince the world how great your life is and then go home to complain about reality.
This is “the life” for most people. Misery 101.
This is why I believe striving to attain any temporary state to be foolish. Even most people who bang the bottle and snort the snow would likely agree with this statement and all they’re doing is chasing a temporary reality.
Don’t take my word for it, though, let the inarguable research prove it to you.
You hear all the time that the people who have the most “stuff” are often the most miserable.
And it’s true.
It’s because the more stuff you have (access to), the more expectations you have. You live and die by comparison and that “next thing”.
This is true for money, power, drugs, you name it.
The first beach house isn’t good enough.
Your current job title doesn’t project enough power.
Don’t they say marijuana is a gateway drug?
While I’m not demonizing materials or having nice things, what people need to “chase” is not happiness, but fulfillment.
Fulfillment is far superior to happiness for a variety of reasons.
Fulfillment is fueled by purpose.
It forces you to answer the deep questions. The “why” for your life. And then go out and work for it.
Again, fulfillment is much harder and far more complex to attain than happiness, which is why most stick with the quick temporary happiness fix of going to the beach for a week.
But the neat thing about fulfillment is that unlike happiness, fulfillment has all the realities baked in.
The highs, the lows, happiness, sadness, challenges, hard lessons, triumphs, betrayals, all of it.
And instead of attempting to run from those things like the happiness seekers do.
With fulfillment you learn to embrace them and understand the value of struggle.
You learn that the struggle is what gives your life purpose.
You can choose to make a living, or you can choose to design a life.
Stop chasing happiness.
Do the work to create a sense of fulfillment.
