We all want to be happy. We’ve made happiness the ultimate goal of our lives.

Put simply: Happiness is a life filled with pleasurable things, people and experiences. Right?

This behavioral pattern provides the framework for Sigmund Freud’s pleasure principle, which states that in everything we sense, think, say and do, we instinctively seek pleasure (what we love) and avoid pain (what we fear).

Our Ego is convinced that pleasure is the building-block of happiness and that this is our path to a meaningful existence. But somehow, pursuing a life of constant pleasure we never get to be truly happy. Soon, even the most pleasurable things turn ordinary and happiness diminishes. As a result, we are forever unfulfilled.

What we require is a shift from pleasure mentality (temporary happiness) toward the meaningful experiences (sustainable happiness). Such a shift necessarily requires growth in wisdom and demands responsible and efficient co-creation of meaningful reality. To succeed we must;

• substitute the goal of happiness for a path, because true happiness is never a final destination, but a continuously evolving journey.
• find pleasure in meaningful experiences, which requires a contribution, adding value to the world, and increasing one’s usefulness.
• step upon an all-inclusive rather than an exclusive path because real happiness is a collective, not an individual experience.
• learn to be happy in each and every moment, because real happiness can neither manifest in the future nor in the past; we can only be happy at this moment, right here, right now.
• learn to be grateful for what we have, because without true gratitude we will never have enough and hence we will never be truly happy.

Ultimately, happiness can only be found within. True happiness is being who we truly are. But who are we?