Why is happiness a worthless word? And what's the alternative?

Eudaimonia is a Greek word used by well - known philosophers Plato and Aristotle, who deserve greater value because it improves one of the most widely used words of modern societies - happiness.

When we try to identify the purpose of our life, we usually come to the word of happiness. We tell ourselves and others that the ultimate purpose of our work, our relationship, and all we do is to achieve happiness. Sounds like a naive idea, but too much faith in this term means that we are constantly unfair to go out or at least to question many trying and worthwhile situations.

The ancient Greeks did not believe that the purpose of life was happiness; they felt that the purpose of life was to reach Eudaimonia, a word that can be translated into fulfillment.

What distinguishes happiness from fulfillment is pain. It's quite possible to be fulfilled at the same time, under pressure, suffering physically or mentally, and in a bad mood. This is a psychological distinction that the word happiness does not allow: It is impossible to be happy and at the same time unhappy or happy but suffering from harm. However, such a combination is allowed in Eudaimon. The Word encourages us to believe that the most valuable projects in life at some point will be filled with bad things, but it still is worth pursuing. Any commitment we make will move us into a variety of challenges that will wear us out, provoke and hurt us. Yet, at the end of our lives, we may feel as if they were things worth working on. Through them, we will have access to something big and more important than happiness: we will make the difference.

With the word Eudaimonia in mind, we will stop imagining that we are looking for a existence free from pain and only then will we not torment ourselves when we feel bad. We're going to know that we're doing something far more important than smiling: we fight for justice for our human potential and we work on small roads but key to improving our species. - No.