Here's a quick little bit from a BBC article reporting on a happiness study:
Researchers from Gothenburg University in Sweden have been studying published data on what makes people happy.
They believe working to achieve a goal, rather than attaining it, makes people more satisfied - although they said good relationships were important.
UK experts agreed, but said the work had to match an individual's strengths.
The Gothenburg team have been studying hundreds of interviews carried out with people across the world to find out what makes them feel fulfilled.
They said winning the lottery or achieving a goal at work gave a temporary high, but it did not last.
Instead, they found that working hard to reach a target was more fulfilling.
I can relate. Sitting on the beach doing nothing doesn't work well for me.
Ported comments:
wilhemina
2006-01-04 03:08 pm UTC
its so fascinating right?
im of the opinion that most people don't know they're happy til they're not.
parakkum
2006-01-04 05:29 pm UTC
People are much more attuned to detecting trends than absolute states. So yeah, it makes sense that people become aware that they're no longer happy, then become aware when they become happy, but can otherwise lose track of things ("Am I still happy? I don't know...").
wilhemina
2006-01-04 06:11 pm UTC
then follows a sense of ennui, striving for something believed to bring happiness and reassessment.