Business of Life

Happiness: Purpose or Meaning

As if we needed to be reminded, Technology Review, MIT's Magazine of Innovation, explores "Technology and Happiness: why more gadgets don't necessarily increase our well-being." James Surowieki writes that Americans are no happier today than they were in 1946 when happiness studies first started. This despite television, xerox, 800 numbers, cell phones, walkmans, ipods and the World Wide Web. In fact, for many life seems worse. A significant minority of citizens are more anxious, trust government less, get divorced more often, and get depressed far more often.

Strikingly, the Amish who forswear modern technology are as happy as members of the Forbes 400. Surowieki reviews the literature and notes Richard Easterlin whose 1947 paper concluded that once a country was solidly middle-class, getting wealthier doesn't make its citizens any happier. He then goes on to explore the impact of technology on our humanity.

"Hedoinic adaption" is what psychologists call the phenomenon of how quickly people adapt to new innovations and soon take them for granted. That's why we complain when we can't get a cell phone signal or why we're annoyed that a website is loading too slowly. Taking things for granted is a sure sign that you haven't developed the attitude of gratitude, an essential component in one's personal development for the Business of Life.

Having a wealth of happiness means never taking life for granted. It means developing a sense of appreciation for the smallest things - the light of a new day, the smell of coffee in the morning, the pure pleasure of a hot shower after a morning spent shoveling. You can say that the more you appreciate, the happier you are. I particularly appreciate Brother David Stendl-Rast, a Benedictine mystic with his own web page, A Network for Grateful Living. In an essay entitled Word, Silence and Understanding, he writes:

The purpose of anything we do is determined by its usefulness; not so the meaning. What a thing or an action means to me is determined not by its usefulness, but by my appreciation. Meaning is the value of even the useless.... In order to accomplish a given purpose I must be able to control the situation. And in order to be in control I must first grasp what it is all about: ‘to grasp’ – that is the right word with regard to purpose. I must grasp all details firmly, take hold of them as of so many tools. But when it comes to meaning, what is there to be grasped? On the contrary, I must allow myself to be grasped by whatever it is, before it can become meaningful to me. As people sometimes say: “How does this grab you?” Only when it “grabs” you will it mean something to you. But there lies a risk. As long as I am in control, not much can happen to me. As soon as I allow reality to “touch me,” I am in for adventure. The quest for meaning is the adventure par excellence, and happiness lies in the thrill of this adventure.

Finding meaning in life is part of the Business of Life. When something grabs you, it becomes part of you. It's the fullest expression of all parts of you - body, mind, heart and spirit - that makes for the richest life.