Puff the Cookie: 5 Ancient Philosophers and Their Definitions of Happiness
Expectation mostly ruins satisfaction.
Sometimes:
I wish we could all stay happy for a year in a row and then behave like we usually do: sad.
Besides, we’re buying time to remain happy and switch it to our sad life later on.
Soren Kierkegaard says: “Life is not a problem to be solved but a reality to be experienced.”
Meaning that being happy is our (sacred) task.
Sadness is a negative pulling force that veils the blessings of our life. Happiness, on the other side, is like sugar.
But what if we run out of sugar (happiness) sometimes?
To answer that, I’ve enclosed 5 happiness lessons from 6 philosophers to ensure we never run out of sugar.
…ever.
1. Aristotle
Young Aristotle had a teacher: Plato.
For 20 years, Aristotle learned under the teachings of Plato’s theories and rules of life.
Aristotle connected happiness with virtues, logic, ethics, and soul. He believed that happiness has more to it than the world sees.
He once said:
“Happiness is the settling of the soul into its most appropriate spot.”
Being rich and happy are two different terms. Buying fine jewelry might satisfy us, but not happy.
Why? Because happiness is a continuous activity.
If we lived our life purposefully and made the right decisions, we could lead a meaningful life.
How to apply?
While people wake up daily, not all of them wake up with a sense of purpose or goal to achieve.
In other words, purpose brings us:
- Fulfillment
- Happiness and contentment
- Courage
We can never fill our glass if we don’t open the tap.
Similarly, we can never experience “completion of goals” if we never started them in the first place.
Aristotle believed that happiness could be achieved in our lifetime, as most philosophers argued otherwise.
So, in short, happiness comes from doing good and useful tasks. If you’re a thinker, happiness might come to you in the forms of:
- Journaling
- Reasoning
- Spreading wisdom
2. Socrates
Socrates had a keen belief in “know thyself.” He believed that knowing within brings Hubris: overconfidence.
Socrates gave a paradoxical statement:
“Virtue is knowledge”
Socrates thought that we should use our virtues properly.
For example, some people have virtues like:
- Strength
- Courage
- Wealth
- Physical beauty
- etc
But virtues often misguide us into doing wrong. Hence, we must put our *gifts* to the right use.
And how do we do that? With the *right* knowledge.
Socrates believed that the utmost responsibility of a human is to explore their virtues and extract their wisdom.
How to apply?
For example:
An intelligent person with an IQ of 200 can voluntarily serve government institutions.
Or, he can go ahead and participate in illicit activities.
What’s the difference? Knowledge.
Wisdom teaches us to use our virtues beneficially. We can make ourselves happy by doing good and using our gifts (Agathon).
A simple example is an overthinker:
An overthinker might become a mental patient if he doesn’t know where to dump his thoughts. To make good use of his thinking and creativeness, a thinker can:
- Write things down
- Make videos
Writing is the perfect job for an overthinker to understand his thoughts and words.
3. Lao-Tzu
Laozi is a Chinese philosopher and also the founder of Taoism.
According to the School of life article:
“Lao Tzu, buddha and confuious were friends. They sat together, one day and tasted vingar. Buddha found it bitter. Confuscis found it sour. And laozi found it sweet.”
“Three of them had different experience. Mostyle because different perspectives of life.”
Lao Tzu believed that a mind that still had the whole world on the right path. He often said:
“Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.”
Most people are sad because they don’t have what they think is a road to a perfect life.
We believe we don’t have:
- Money
- Family power
- Friend circle
- And much more
But we forget that these objects were never meant to bring us happiness. Rather steal away.
How to apply?
Laozi asks to be:
- Thankful for what you have
- Never hurry
Good things come at the right time. When we’re being thankful, we manifest nature to its true power.
As Laozi said:
“ Nature does not hurry yet everything is accomplished.”
For everything that you want, you will achieve it. But remember that what you consider the right time is different than the real right time.
Things happen in alignment with nature’s clock. Everything falls in place when nature has scheduled.
Why do you worry? Nature never retires of its time, allocating jobs. It’s been doing since the world came into being.
Since you weren’t even born.
4. Karl Marx
Karl Marx was a German philosopher during the 19th century.
Sources suggest that Marx was a fighter. He went to any length for—a better conception of society.
Mostly, Marx was sad and drought to see the everliving uncertainty of society. He wanted to change everything, but he failed again and again. That’s when he said;
“Surround yourself with people who make you happy.”
The history of socialist Marx suggests that his friendship with Friedrich Engels impacted his life.
Friedrich Engels was a political theorist, much like Kal Marx himself. Even though Marx spent his life fighting, finding someone who pretty much understands the same changed his life.
How to apply?
As Dan Peña says:
“Tell me about your friend, and I’ll tell you about our future.”
Marx and Engels became good friends on the 10-day visit to Paris. They became hard to whip together.
Most people don’t realize that, but a partner and a friend complete you. We know that nobody is perfect.
Finding someone with the same true spirit is like finding the lid of a pyrex bowl.
A true friend adds to your life:
- Creativity
- Enjoyment
- Guidance
So the next time you make friends, ensure you know who covers the lid for you.
5. Confucius
Confucius, at first, wasn’t Confusious at all.
Meaning that he was a normal person doing normal jobs to feed his belly.
Most sources argue that Confucius was never successful in his lifetime. Albeit, although he was a happy person.
How? Confucius once declared:
“The wise find pleasure in water; the virtuous find pleasure in hills. The wise are active; the virtuous are tranquil. The wise are joyful; the virtuous are long-lived.”
According to him, happiness is looking at the positive side of life instead of the negative.
For over 1500 years ago, Confucius practiced the methods of (less) expectation. He always believed that the secret to happiness is looking at a glass full instead of a half glass empty.
Because expectation mostly ruins satisfaction.
How to apply?
- Expect less
This way, you will be satisfied with every outcome.
Why? Because life doesn’t work the way, you want. Most people would go out of their way to make your life miserable than to do a good deed.
Confucius says that life is full of confusion and uncertainty. By expectations, we ruin the little blessings life saves for us.
Instead, he provides a framework to become happy:
- Invest in good relationships
- Meditate
- Expect less
- Keep it simple
- Go slow
He often said: “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”
Don’t be the beast. Instead, appreciate the beauty.
Final thoughts:
Whatever you do, do it will all your heart.
Life was never fair to these philosophers, and it will never be fair to you. Learn to let it go and be kind to everyone.
Think this way: if you’re helping someone, the universe chose you to help someone else.
Don’t be ashamed. Be proud.
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