Happiness! Who doesn’t want it? A recent google search on ‘how to be happy’ turned up 626 million results. Compare that to typing in ‘Donald Trump’ and you get 237 million items or ‘Brexit news’ where there is just 90 million! We all want to be happy. But what do we mean by happiness? I can be happy eating an ice cream and I can be happy meeting a long lost friend. But those two experiences are clearly very different. How can I find a happiness that leads to deeper meaning and fulfilment?
On this podcast we interview Andy Parnham, author of the book, “Lasting Happiness: In Search of Deeper Meaning and Fulfilment.“ Do come and join us in this opening 30 minute conversation as we explore:
- Andy’s fascination with exploring this important subject.
- Western’s society obsession with defining the good life only in terms of health, wealth and the pursuit of pleasure while at the same time avoiding pain.
- How the research and our own personal experience shows lasting happiness is ultimately found in relationships, meaning and fulfilment.
- How the research shows the most significant factor in overall wellness is the presence of strong relationships.
- The two problems of material pleasure being they fade with time and need ever increasing consumerism to produce the same ‘buzz’.
- How this is not just a Western issue, as the examples of Qatar (the richest country in the world), Japan and Bhutan illustrate.
- A psychological understanding of happiness as ‘subjective wellbeing’ with the three components of pleasure, engagement and meaning.
- Understanding the what, how, who and why of lasting happiness.
We will be talking with Andy more in future podcasts, but for now if you would like to explore this further also see:
Podcast #026: The Search For Happiness
Podcast #006: Rediscovering Joy
Why I am working at becoming a happier person.
Why is joy more important than happiness?
The lies we tell ourselves about joy.
Moving from disappointment to joy.
Podcast #042: What Does It Take To Live A Meaningful Life?
Podcast #035: What Is Life Really All About?
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