Happiness is...

I walked into class with the expectation of wrapping up one of the most amazing courses I have taken at the GSB. Instead, I walked out with a million questions and an urge to sit alone and just think: Are we actually aware that the meaning of happiness changes every certain period of time or do we live in pursuit of reaching a fixated state of happiness … one day?

Jennifer’s main message today was that if we internalize the idea that “the meaning of happiness shifts every five years”, then we will make better decisions and choose a better career. In fact, she proved her point by asking us to “fill in the blanks” the paragraph below by inserting the feelings we associate with each age group. This was a very rich exercise as I got to hear how different classmates foresee their lives changing. Although I could share with you my own, I have chosen (with their permission) to share with you the abstracts that were written by Beatrice Pang and Amanda Gharghour from our class. They are just more beautiful and articulate than mine.

“I start dreaming to be an artist (12-14 yrs) but soon fill up with social pressure to belong to the majority (15-18 yrs) and feelings of lost identity in a new environment (19-22 yrs), until we leave those behind to go start proving myself to the world (23-26), before gradually trading ambition for my true passion (27-30), and developing an appreciation for our families (31-35) and our friends (31-35), and evolving a sense of limited existence (36-40), for which we feel happily every day (36-40), then connected (41-49), grateful (41-49), and finally blissful (50+)” – Beatrice Pang

“We start curious (12-14 yrs) but soon fill up with anxiety (15-18 yrs) and feelings of introspection (19-22 yrs), until we leave those behind to go chase dreams (23-26), before gradually trading ambition for inner peace (27-30), and developing an appreciation for our family (31-35) and our true self (31-35), and evolving a sense of belonging (36-40), for which we feel empowered (36-40), then generous (41-49), content (41-49), and finally settled (50+)” – Amanda Gharghour

Do you spot the similarity? After listening to a few classmates share their abstracts (and after analyzing my own), I realized that despite the difference in word choice, there is actually a similarity in the way we all view happiness at the mere start and end of our lives. When we are young, we all associate happiness with being naïve, curious, and excited. When we are old we associate happiness with gratefulness, peacefulness, and settlement. And what about the meaning of happiness between the stages of youth and maturity? Well, we are all different. We each enrich and accomplish happiness in our own unique ways. We all start simple and gear up to explore the world, but look forward to ending our lives having accomplished peace after a rich journey.

So, what is happiness to you and how do you anticipate it will change? Fill in the blanks and be prepared to make decisions based on what you choose happiness to be like during the next five years for your life.