Have you ever heard the term “epicurean”? It means spoiled, decadent, hedonistic, selfish. And that’s totally wrong.
Epicurus was a Greek philosopher thousands of years ago. Look him up, you might find the translation that says, “Epicurus believed that human pleasure is the greatest universal virtue.” That’s pretty misleading; it does just sound like hedonism.
If they were going to translate it today, they’d probably say, “happiness” instead of “pleasure”, but that too can be easily misinterpreted.
You see, most people don’t study human happiness, and if you don’t study human happiness, you might think that the pursuit of happiness is about getting lots of stuff, eating lots of food, and having lots of sex. But if you’ve ever done any of that, even if you had no repercussions to deal with, did it really make you happy?
Epicurus defined two kinds of pleasure, two kinds of happiness: kinetic and static. “Kinetic pleasure” is what we tend to think of as happiness. It’s when something makes you happy, like when you eat your favorite food or when Daddy buys you the exact yacht you wanted for your birthday. “Static pleasure” on the other hand is when nothing at all is happening to you. You’re just sitting there. Happy.
Philosophers have agonized over the meaning of life forever. It’s, like, the number one philosophical question. But at the end of the day, we all define the meaning of life for ourselves. The decisions you make, the priorities you hold to, define the meaning of your life. So give it some thought.
For my money, I’m going with Epicurus. The meaning of life is to manifest that static pleasure, to be at peace with yourself and the world around you. That’s probably the best translation of Epicurus’ “greatest universal virtue”, actually. Not pleasure. Not happiness. But inner peace.
Having said that, inner peace isn’t really a goal, it’s not a pursuit, not a destination. It’s more like a compass. It’s there to track your day to day decision-making and keep you going on the right path. If you’re miserable all the time, you need to make some changes. If you’re happy all the time, keep it up.
Before I go, I want to recommend the work of Martin E. P. Seligman, Ph.D., who has done a number of rigorous scientific studies and written plenty of books on the subject of finding lasting happiness, and to summarize a couple of key points about the difference between kinetic and static pleasure.
First, perfect happiness doesn’t exist. Life is full of choices, sacrifices, priorities, random events. Static pleasure, inner peace, is a trend, not a constant.
Second, general health: consistently eating a good diet, getting a decent amount of exercise, and getting enough sleep at night is proven to increase your overall happiness. The key word here is “consistently”.
Finally, money: it does not buy happiness but it does buy food and shelter. Being without those things will make you miserable. If you have no doubt that you can afford a place to live and enough to eat, then no amount of extra money can make you extra happy. For middle class people like me and (I assume) you, if you’re not happy now, getting rich won’t do it. But if you descend into poverty, you’ll probably lose the happiness you have.
In conclusion, don’t live a life that makes you happy. Live a life that leaves you happy.
