Pursuing happiness can make us feel that grief, loss, and sadness are abnormal.

Feeling inspired often arises from being deeply touched, learning, or witnessing genuine love.

Inspiration can arise even in hardship, providing meaning beyond simple joy or pleasure.

It may be time to consider a paradigm shift — a move away from the pursuit of happiness to a life of inspiration. The word happy was defined in the late 14th century as “good luck” and “feeling very glad.” Let’s take a closer look.

The Shortcomings of Pursuing Happiness

It’s difficult to pursue “good luck.” Happiness is a joyous feeling that arises from a fortunate event. The idea of pursuing happiness doesn’t seem viable.

The price for prioritizing happiness. Once happiness is viewed as the way to be, other aspects of the human condition are easily frowned upon. The implication is that there’s something wrong with us if we’re not happy. Anger, sadness, loss, melancholy, grief, and desperation are given a short shelf-life with the mandate to get back to happy as soon as possible.

Life goes misunderstood. The more happiness overshadows other ways of being alive, the more we can lose perspective of how vast and valuable life is beyond being........

© Psychology Today