Authentic Happiness

The Authentic Happiness Newsletter is one part of Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman's tireless campaign to get the psychiatric establishment, and perhaps the rest of the world, to acknowledge happiness as a phenomenon worthy of deep mulling.

"...the core thesis in Authentic Happiness is that there are three very different routes to happiness. First the Pleasant Life, consisting in having as many pleasures as possible and having the skills to amplify the pleasures. This is, of course, the only true kind of happiness on the Hollywood view. Second, the Good Life, which consists in knowing what your signature strengths are, and then recrafting your work, love, friendship, leisure and parenting to use those strengths to have more flow in life. Third, the Meaningful Life, which consists of using your signature strengths in the service of something that you believe is larger than you are."

As you no doubt have already predicted, the first kind of happiness (the one you, I and Hollywood are most familiar with) is shown to be the least useful of the three - especially when it comes to "life satisfaction." Which, ultimately, I guess, is what it all does come to. Living the Good Life (doing what you do best) and using it to do good things (the Meaningful Life) may not sound like as much fun as, say, a roller coaster ride or ten million dollars, but it's the kind of fun that goes deep, so to speak. Deep enough to last a lifetime, and beyond.