Great article! I think it's really tough to break away from the hedonic treadmill as described, honestly just because I don't understand the purpose of life completely. Is the purpose of life to achieve happiness or is it something greater than just our personal contentment (influencing the lives of others, providing for our loved ones, etc.), and are these two things opposites or do they relate to one another? Would love to know what you think.
Hi Meghna, you're asking really deep and meta questions that I believe philosophers and sages have been trying to answer for centuries. The way I see it, nobody but you are your responsible for your happiness. Sometimes that comes from doing things that has far reaching impact (I think there is research that shows that doing something that makes you believe you are changing lives, does increase the mental state of being), and sometimes it comes from things that you do for your own silly joy. It's tricky because we all throw the word happiness around but what is happiness really? Is it excitement for something, is it peace, it is satisfaction and fulfillment, is it security? Each question is a pandora's box and it might all seem very fruitless. But that said, we are actually very lucky to be able to have such conversations because the pursuit of a meaningful life is the only pursuit that matters :)
Great article! I think it's really tough to break away from the hedonic treadmill as described, honestly just because I don't understand the purpose of life completely. Is the purpose of life to achieve happiness or is it something greater than just our personal contentment (influencing the lives of others, providing for our loved ones, etc.), and are these two things opposites or do they relate to one another? Would love to know what you think.
Hi Meghna, you're asking really deep and meta questions that I believe philosophers and sages have been trying to answer for centuries. The way I see it, nobody but you are your responsible for your happiness. Sometimes that comes from doing things that has far reaching impact (I think there is research that shows that doing something that makes you believe you are changing lives, does increase the mental state of being), and sometimes it comes from things that you do for your own silly joy. It's tricky because we all throw the word happiness around but what is happiness really? Is it excitement for something, is it peace, it is satisfaction and fulfillment, is it security? Each question is a pandora's box and it might all seem very fruitless. But that said, we are actually very lucky to be able to have such conversations because the pursuit of a meaningful life is the only pursuit that matters :)
Nicely done ... articulate and accurate