Why happiness should be your goal

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We all want to be happy in life, but is it really necessary? Psychologist Jessica Beltran argues that yes, we need to be happy. “Happy people succeed in making this world a better place through their optimism, energy, originality, and altruism.” Happiness is not only beneficial to society as a whole, but it is also strongly correlated with better health, and a better chance of obtaining goals. Also, “Increasing research evidence has supported Aristotle’s argument that happiness is the whole aim of human existence.” We don’t just need happiness, we live to be happy. All the decisions we make should be based upon what will give us the most happiness.

Unfortunately, we don't always judge this correctly, and overestimate how much happiness things might bring us. Other times, we base decisions not by how much happiness it will bring us, but by how others will judge us. “If we base our decisions on what others think then we’ll be living their lives and not ours. Other people’s thinking is a projection of their own life, their own mistakes, their own fears. So don’t make them yours.” The decisions we make should be for ourselves for the purpose of making us happy.

source: blogs.psychcentral.com