How to take a different approach on happiness

If we are continuously searching for happiness, we often end up feeling dissatisfied and lost. Going with the flow of life is what it’s all about. Hans Thijssen, a professor of philosophy at Radboud University in the Netherlands, tells us a bit more. 

Thijssen thinks that suffering and happiness can coexist perfectly. You can feel down and still be happy. “The big misunderstanding in today’s world is that people confuse happiness with pleasure,” he says. “And so they chase the wrong things: They want to become rich and famous, because then—so they think—they can buy what they want and enjoy a comfortable life.

Let me say this: There is nothing wrong with enjoying things, but it is something essentially different than actually being happy. Enjoyment is temporary and is caused by things from the outside. You can enjoy a delicious meal, a good movie, a promotion at work or a pair of new shoes.But at a certain moment that feeling wears away. Happiness is much more stable and has to do with a lifestyle, finding a spiritual balance in which you will flourish.”

The interpretation of happiness that Thijssen likes is based on old wisdom in philosophy, and revolves around one question: What is actually a good life, and therefore a happy life? The old philosophers felt that it had nothing to do with the base pursuit of pleasure. It is all about moderation, humanity and love. And also about justice, courage and purpose.