The Idea Of Flourishing Life.
What does it mean to be happy?
People puzzled over this question for thousands of years. In ancient times was mused upon by philosophers. Now, the field of psychology is actively contributing to answering it.
One of the people who studied happiness is Martin Seligman, often called “a father” of positive psychology, the field that researches wellbeing. After decades of working with human pathologies, Martin decided to find out what makes people happy, which led him to create a well-being theory called PERMA. His view is that if you have all five of PERMA elements in your life, you are living not just a happy or meaningful life, but what he calls a “flourishing” one. Here are its’ elements:
1. Positive emotions.
This is what we call a pleasant experience. It is a cornerstone of this well-being theory, although it is not its main goal. Positive emotions include feelings of pleasure, warmth, satisfaction, etc.
2. Engagement.
As subjective as positive emotions, it is measured by how much you get involved in your tasks. Did time stop for you? Did you lose self-consciousness? - are the questions to be asked here. Keep in mind that emotions are mostly absent during the flow state, and we only reflect on how good it was in retrospect.
3. Meaning.
Meaning is about belonging to and serving something you believe is more significant than you. This element has a subjective feature, such as positive emotions involved, and a more objective one - such as seeing the impact you made.
4. Accomplishment.
Pursuit of success, accomplishment, winning, achievement, and mastery. These are often pursued for their own sake, not necessarily for pleasure or meaning of it.
5. Positive relationships.
Very little that is positive is solitary, so other people are often a component of a happy life. As proof, one of the sure ways to raise one’s mood is to show kindness to another person.
If you are hungry to know more, consider looking into the source of this information:
The book Flourish by Martin Seligman.
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