Twenty Three Hundred Years ago, Aristotle in “Nicomachean Ethics” concluded that, more than anything else, human seeks happiness. As I reflect upon my life, I find this to be true. Although I do not always consciously seek happiness per se, I do seek related goals such as health, beauty, or money because I expect them to make me happy. In recent months, however, I have decided to concentrate on understanding “what is happiness?”

In the initial stage, I tried to understanding what happiness is by consciously experiencing it. For instance, when I am playing my favorite games, I deliberately shut down all my other senses and concentrate instead on understanding what “happiness” is. This method obviously does not work. The philosopher, J. S. Mill, summarizes it eloquently, “we cannot reach happiness by consciously searching for it. Ask yourself whether you are happy and you cease to be so. It is by fully aware with every detail of our lives, whether it is good or bad, that we find happiness, not by trying to look for it directly.”

Victor Frankl, the Austrian psychologist also summarized it beautifully in his book Man’s Search for Meaning: “Don’t aim at success – the more you aim it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue…. as the unintended side-effect of one’s personal dedication to a course greater than oneself.”

Another great book is the concept of “flow” by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly. For more than two decades, Csikszentmihaly has attempted to understand scientifically how people felt when they most enjoy themselves. By studying “experts”, such as artists, athletes, etc.., Csikszentmihaly concludes that

“The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times . . . The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).

I have been reflecting on that for months now as there are so many “free” days. Have I fully use the free time that was given to me? Is what I am doing now, writing blog and creating website, is considered “flow”. Am I happy? I am not sure as there are moments of doubt, moments of tiredness, and moments of “disappointment”. I guess only time will tell. I will persist in the meantime.