How happiness and meaning differ: eight critical findings

A happy life and a meaningful life are similar, but not the same. Here is an extract from?Dancing with fear and confidence?summarising eight key insights from recent studies:

• Happiness involves being focused on your present. Meaningfulness involves your past, present, and future, and the relationship between them.
• Happiness can be fleeting, while meaningfulness lasts longer.
• Spending time with friends is more linked to happiness. Spending time with loved ones is more linked to meaning.
• Self-expression is important to meaning but not happiness.
• Despair is not a lack of happiness, but is a lack of meaning in your life.
• Authenticity are key to both meaning and lasting happiness
• The act of striving for happiness can actually make you unhappy. Discovering your meaning can improve your health, wealth and happiness

When have you felt happiest in the past few months?

Last week, Rob and I went to a Burlesque show in Ramsgate. We laughed a lot! It was very cheeky, very professional, and I can honestly say I felt very happy. When I think of those 2 hours a week later, I can feel a smile on my face again.

My daily morning walk also makes me feel happy – 25 minutes along the sea front rain or shine. When I don’t do it, I miss it. When I do, I feel grounded and in the moment. It doesn’t fulfil me but it does set me up for the day.

What are your sources of meaning?

Many people think meaning is singular, but evidence shows people draw meaning from multiple sources including family, love, work, religion, community and various personal projects.

Your sources of meaning are what gives your life value—to yourself and others. They are important and persist. They give you energy and are worth your energy. By mid-life, most people find their sources of meaning have emerged and are important threads throughout their life story.

Like many others, my family and work are major sources of meaning for me. Even though my kids are 24 and 21 and live away most of the time, I love being part of their lives – supporting each other, creating memories, or just spending time together.

I haven’t always found work as meaningful as I do now. Five years ago, after being made redundant, I took some time to define my purpose.

I am a champion of fulfilling (mid-life) careers

It took some time to emerge, but with the benefit of some great coaching and some care and attention, I captured it in this simple phrase. It guides me, helps me hold healthy boundaries, and supports me making choices about what I do (and don’t do).

The choices we make in mid-life really matter.

To discover more, or stay connected, there are four main ways to choose from. Scan the QR code for my linktr.ee…

Further reading

Holden, R. (2009). Be happy: Release the power of happiness in you. New York City: Hay House Inc.

Marsh, J., Suttie, J (2014) Is a Happy Life Different from a Meaningful One? A scientific controversy about the relationship between meaning and happiness raises fundamental questions about how to live a good life.?

Walker, L (2020) Dancing with fear and confidence: How to liberate yourself and your career in midlife. MPowr Publishing.

Willemse, Marietjie & Deacon, Elmari. (2015). Experiencing a sense of calling: The influence of meaningful work on teachers’ work attitudes. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology. 41. 10.4102/sajip.v41i1.1274.