Happiness, Pleasure & Joy

“It is common to hear people say, “I just want to be happy.” And who does not? It’s certainly much better to be happy than sad. Good times are better to experience than bad. But pursuing happy is a little off the mark. It is like trying to grab smoke. Whenever we make happiness our goal, we set ourselves for a futile chase. First, we do something that we think will make us happy. Then, once that pleasure is through, we move on to the next. Usually, the pleasures have to escalate to continue to satisfy, and we find ourselves in an endless climb. From pleasure to pleasure we go, never really finding happiness.”

-From "Leadership: Tidbits and treasures" Self-Improvement book by Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward. Page 275"

You don’t get happiness from pursuing happiness. What people pursue, when they say they pursue happiness, is pleasure and Orrin Woodward said that “Pleasure does not bring happiness; it only brings an increasing hunger for more pleasure.”

“The only way to get happy is to give happy.” –Chris Brady

Pleasure is the least fulfilling feeling of the 3 because it constantly needs to be worked on in order to keep the “high” and it doesn’t last very long.

Happiness is partly a choice. To choose to be happy is to see the positive side of things.

Joy is the ultimate form of happiness and comes from being at peace with yourself which is often only attainable through spirituality. While pleasure is often confused with happiness, Joy, on the other hand, isn’t. There is no doubt in your mind when Joy is felt and it can last a lifetime.

If you want fulfillment in your life, pursue Joy instead of happiness.

*This post can also be found on Men 2.0